Improvement of local varieties of rice (Oryza glaberrima) for resistance to shattering and grain quality by induced mutations

In Mali, a large area of rice is planted with the local rice, O. glaberrima which under conditions of low rainfall and flood water is more hardy to stress than the introduced O. sativa cultivars. A program to improve the local varieties of O. glaberrima by induced mutations was started in 1988. Ten local varieties were irradiated with 20 and 30 krad. In M4 of cv. 'Gorbal', irradiated with 20 krads, 13 variants were selected. Five of these were evaluated in M5 for their agronomic performance. The induced mutants in the remaining 9 varieties were highly sterile with 90% or more sterility in the M2 and M3. Irradiation with 20-30 krad gave high survival (70-95%), and several mutants with white kernel were obtained from the red seeded types. Nearly two-third of the identified mutants had white caryopsis. There is better consumer acceptance of the white seeded type of rice than the red seeded varieties in Mali and the white seeded mutants may have an added premium in the market. The field performance of the M5 mutants was investigated. Preliminary results showed that some of mutants derived from cv. 'Gorbal' were early in maturity and had more panicles per plant, but had a lower 1000-kernel weight, and did not differ from the parent in grain yield. Additional trials are planned to establish potential of the mutants for yield and quality. Three more cultivars of O. glaberrima - 'Haira', 'Tombo' and 'Yele' - were irradiated with 20 and 60 krads, and gave 75, 81 and 72% seed viability, respectively. M1 showed reduced plant height. Selection for non-shattering of grains shall be carried out in M2. Any plants which are non-shattering but sterile shall be crossed with the parent to recover the mutant types. The taxonomic status of cv. 'Gorbal' is not very clear. Isozyme patterns suggest that this cultivar may belong to O. sativa and not to O. glaberrima. To establish its taxonomic status, crosses shall be made with O. sativa and O. glaberrima. (author). 2 tabs