Breeding Cereal Crops (PBG-603)
Rice (Oryza sativa L.)
Botanical Description
Botanical Name
Oryza sativa L.
▪ Family
Gramineae/Poaceae
▪ Genus
Oryza L.
Introduction
➢Rice is the world’s most important crop and a
primary food source for half of the world’s
population.
➢Nearly 40% of the world population consumes rice
as the major staple food.
➢There are 42 rice producing countries throughout
the world but China and India are major rice
production centers.
➢Genus Oryza consists of 22 species, of which only
two are cultivated.
Origin of Rice
➢Primitive domesticated species 10,000 years ago.
➢Reported to be cultivated 8000 years or more in
China and India.
➢20 species with basic chromosome no. 12 (diploid
and tetraploid)
➢Six are annual and rest are perennial.
➢6 genomes known A, B,C, D, E and F.
➢Only two are cultivated: the common rice, O. Sativa
and the African rice, O. Glaberrima
➢O. Glaberrima indigenous to in West Africa
➢Two other species: O. Nivara and O. Rufipogon have AA
genome.
➢It generally accepted that O. Sativa is from Asian form of
this species complex O. Rufipogon while O. Glaberrima
comes form O. Breviligulata.
➢Other concept believed is that O. Sativa and O. Glaberrima
same progenitor.
➢The cultivated species O. Sativa has evolved into three
geographical subspecies due to adaptation under diverse
climatic conditions for a long period
i) Indica, ii) Japonica and iii) Javanica.
Nutritional Features
➢Rice is easy to digest
➢Low in cholesterol and fat
➢High in starch
➢Rich source of energy, 77.5% of
carbohydrate
➢Good source of thiamine, niacin,
riboflavin, vitamin D, iron , calcium,
potassium and fiber
➢Low sugar and no gluten
➢Rice is a low sodium food for those
with hypertension
➢Rich source of essential amino acids
Production in Pakistan
Rice Production (000 Tonnes)
7600
7450
7410
7400
7202
7200
7000
6849
6801
6800
6600
6400
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20
➢ The production increased due to increase in cultivated area.
Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
Morphology
• Cultivated rice is an annual crop but some of its
wild relatives are perennial.
• In nature. The rice plant, typically a grass, consists
of root, stem (culm), tillers, leaves and panicles at
the terminal part of productive tillers.
• The plant height varies by variety and
environmental conditions, ranging from 0.4 m in
dwarf varieties to 5 m in some deep water floating
rice.
Roots
• All the members of Graminae family are monocots
with adventitious root system.
• The primary root which results due to the
prolongation of the radical is in turn supported by
several adventitious roots.
• Generally taller varieties have a greater penetration
of roots than shorter varieties. Similarly varieties
with good tillering habit have well developed root
system.
• The direct seeded crop develops deeper but poorly
developed root system, whereas the transplanted
crop has a shallow but well developed root system.
Stem
• The stem above the ground level consists of solid nodes and
hollow internodes and is commonly called as culm
• Based upon the habitat and species the elongation of
internodes varies.
• Only a few internodes elongate. About 3-8 internodes
elongate.
• The number of nodes varies from 13-16 with only the upper
4 or 5 separated by long inter-nodes.
• An internode whose length exceeds 5mm is usually
considered as elongated.
• Plant height of the modern high yielding varieties may vary
from 90-110cm. with the dwarfing gene as compared to
traditional tall varieties (120-150).
Tillers
• A branch of the plant bearing the root, culm, leaves and with
or without a panicle is called a tiller.
• Tillering starts from the second leaf when the fifth leaf on the
main culm emerges.
• The primary tillers originate from the lower most nodes and
give to secondary tillers.
• The tall traditional varieties are usually low tillering and
spreading while the modern HYVs have high tillering ability
and compact.
• In high tillering varieties, all the tillers are not productive.
• Numerous environmental factors also effect tillering ability
such as varieties, spacing, fertilizers, and cultural operations.
Leaf
• The leaves arise from the node and are born at an angle in an
alternate phylotaxy. Varieties differ in leaf number.
• A typical rice leaf consists of leaf sheath, auricle, ligule, leaf
lamina or blade.
• The swelling at the base of the leaf sheath is called pulvinus.
• The expended portion of the leaf is called the leaf lamina or
leaf blade.
• The prominent ridge on the lower surface is called the
midrib.
• At the junction of the blade and leaf sheath on the inside
there are two triangular and membranous structures called
ligules.
• On either side, there is a pair of hairy sickle shaped
auricles.
• The white band around the junction between the
blade and sheath is called the collar
• The first rudimentary leaf at the base of the main
culm is bladeless and two keeled bract called
prophylum.
• The upper most leaf below the panicle is called the
flag or boot leaf.
• The traditional tall varieties have long droopy leaves
wherease the semi-dwarf modern high yielding
varieties (HYV) have short small and erect leaves.
Inflorescence
➢The floral organs of rice plants are modified shoots. The
terminal internode bears the determinate inflorescence; called
the panicle that bears spikelets.
✓Panicle:
Panicle consists of base, axis, primary and secondary
branches, pedicel, glumes and spikelets.
✓Spikelets:
✓Spikelets of rice consists of three flowers, two of which are
reduced in development.
✓The spikelet consists of a minute axis called rachilla, a pair
of sterile lemmas (glumes), palea and the flower.
✓The lemma, palea and the
flower are together known as
the floret.
✓The spikelet consists of a
minute axis called rachilla, a
pair of sterile lemmas
(glumes), palea and the
flower.
✓The sterile lemma and palea
are also called bracts.
✓The tip of the lemma and
palea is known as apiculus.
Flower
✓The flower consists of
six stamens and a pistil.
✓Each stamen is
composed of two celled
versatile anthers born on
slender filaments.
✓ The pistil consists of
ovary with one ovule,
short style and hairy
stigma.
Fruit
✓The rice fruit is a caryopsis
with a single seed fused to the
ripened ovary wall, Pericarp.
✓The caryopsis is enclosed by
the pericarp.
✓The bulk of the caryopsis is
the starchy endosperm which
lies below the tegman.
✓Embryo consists of plumule,
mesocotyl, radicle, epiblast
and scutellum.
Growth Phases
➢Rice has three distinct growth phases:
1. Vegetative growth phase
2. Reproductive growth phase
3. Ripening growth phase
1. Vegetative Growth phase:
i. Germination stage
ii. Seedling stage
iii. Tillering stage
✓ It terminates with the initiation of panicle
primordia
i. Germination stage:
✓ Germination in non-dormant seeds starts when these are
exposed to appropriate water and temperature.
✓ Germination is characterized by the emergence of the
radicle or coleoptile from the germinating embryo.
ii. Seedling stage:
✓ It includes both germination and post germination growth.
✓ Includes the period from emergence to just before the
appearance of the first tiller.
✓ A seedling has six leaves, three fully developed, two
developing and the first usually dead.
✓ Seedling stage extends upto 18-24 days from the initiation
of germination.
iii. Tillering stage:
✓ Starts with the appearance of the first tiller from the axil
of the second leaf on the main culm.
✓ It coincides with the emergence of the fifth leaf on the
culm.
✓ Tiller number increases with the emergence of more
primary, secondary and tertiary tillers
➢ Rice is short day plant and cultivars are classified into:
1. Photoperiod sensitive
2. Photoperiod insensitive
➢ Vegetative growth phase of rice is divided into
1. Basic vegetative phase (BVP) (10-63 days)
2. Photoperiod sensitive phase (PSP) (31 days), Insensitive
0-30 days)
2. Reproductive Growth phase:
i. Panicle initiation ii. Booting
iii. Heading iv. Flowering
i. Panicle initiation:
✓ Begins with the initiation of panicle primordia at the shoot
apex.
ii. Booting:
✓ About 16 days after the visual panicle initiation, booting
stage is detectable.
iii. Heading:
✓ Booting stage is followed by heading (emergence of
panicle from the flag leaf sheath.
✓ About 22 days after the visible panicle initiation.
iv. Flowering:
✓ Flowering is also called blooming of flowers or anthesis.
✓ Rice is an autogamous crop. During the process of
filament elongation the anhers dehisc and pollination
occurs.
✓ Pollen grains are viable only for five minutes after
emerging from the anther.
✓ Stigma can remain receptive for 3-7 days.
✓ Pollen grains are more sensitive to high temperature than
stigma.
✓ Pollen grains loose viability at about 43ₒC and below
21ₒC,which may ultimately result in high spikelet sterility.
✓ Flowering usually occurs 25 days after the visual panicle
initiation.
2. Ripening Growth phase:
➢Ripening phase refers to the actual process of grain
development following pollination and fertilization
i. Milky stage ii. Dough stage iii. Mature grain stage
i. Milky stage:
✓ Contents of the developing caryopsis are first watery but
lateral turn milky.
ii. Dough stage:
✓ Milky portion of the grain turns from soft jelly to hard
dough.
iii. Mature grain stage:
✓ Gradual change of panicle color from green to yellow.
Individual mature grain is hard, and the color is yellow.
✓ In the tropics it takes about 25-35 days, but prolonged to
65 days in cool regions.
Breeding Objectives
Goals of Rice breeder: Yield potential
1. High yield potential 1. Morphological traits
2. Yield stability ✓Short stature, high tillering,
stiff culms, compact panicles,
3. Grain Quality
✓Erect leaves, heavy panicles
2. Physiological traits
✓Seedling vigor, early maturity,
photoperiod insensitive,
✓Nitrogen responsive
Breeding Objectives
Yield stability Disease resistance
✓Early maturity ✓ Sheath blight (rhizoctonia
solani)
✓Resistance to lodging ✓ Bacterial leaf blight
✓Resistance to abiotic stresses (xanthomonas compestris)
✓ Stem rot (sclerotium oryzae)
✓ Viral diseases: tungro virus,
grassy stunt virus, hoja blanca
✓ Oryza nivara provided resistance
to grassy stunt but not for hoja
blanca.
Breeding Objectives
Insect resistance Grain Quality
1. Market quality
✓Brown plant hoppers
• Grain size, shape and uniformity, awn
✓White backed plant hoppers lessness, translucency, color,
2. Milling quality
✓Leaf hoppers
• Paddy rice, brown rice, milled/polished
rice. Head rice yield.
✓Stem borers (20 spp.)
3. Cooking and processing qualities
✓Gall midges • Water uptake, amylose content,
✓Rice water weevil 4. Nutritional quality
✓Rice stink bug
Types Of Rice
➢ Soft rice ➢Wehani rice
➢Glutinous/waxy rice ➢Wild rice (zizania aquatic)
➢Boutique rice ➢ Colored rice
➢Aromatic rice ➢ Golden rice
➢Carolina rice
➢Della rice
➢Arborio/italian rice
➢Jasmine rice