Development of temperate basmati rice: a multi-year study on performance and adaptation under high altitude conditions of Northern Himalayas

Abstract

In the present study, an effective secondary selection of transgressive variants from a homozygous population of Pusa Sugandh 3 (PS3) has led to the development of basmati variant SKUA 494. SKUA 494 exhibited a grain yield (7.9 t/ha) with superiority of 21.5% over its progenitor (6.5 t/ha). Besides, the genotype revealed an earliness of about 13 and 15 days for flowering and maturity, respectively. Hulling, milling and head rice recovery traits of SKUA 494 were comparatively better over the controls PS3 and Pusa Basmati 1509. No significant differences in the cooking quality were observed in SKUA 494 over its parental line. Quality traits of SKUA 494 revealed an intermediate score for alkali spreading value, besides similar values for gel consistency and amylose content in comparison to PS3. On the basis of stability variables, stability index and overall mean for most of the traits, SKUA 494 depicted stable performance across the locations and over the years. Molecular analysis based on simple sequence repeat markers revealed polymorphism at locus flanking the quantitative trait loci for days to heading (Hd6) between SKUA 494 and its parent (PS3). Based on overall superiority in the performance and adaptability of SKUA 494, the variety has been recommended to farmers for general cultivation under temperate ecology.