Cold tolerant temperate rice varieties for hills and valley of Kashmir: Accomplishments and the way forward

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In: Oryza sativa ISBN: 978-1-53619-112-7
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Chapter 5
COLD TOLERANT TEMPERATE RICE
VARIETIES FOR HILLS AND VALLEY
OF KASHMIR: ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AND THE WAY FORWARD
Amjad M. Husaini1,2,

, Deepika Pandita2
and Amir B. Wani2
1Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops, SKUAST Kashmir,
Khudwani, Anantnag
2Division of Plant Biotechnology, SKUAST-K, Shalimar,
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
ABSTRACT
Jammu & Kashmir is an agri-horticulture state where a large
population is economically dependent on agriculture and horticulture,
directly or indirectly, for livelihood security. Rice, the staple food of the
majority population, is cultivated in diverse agro-ecological situations
 Corresponding Author’s E-mail: amjadhusaini@skuastkashmir.ac.in.
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extending from the subtropical area (<1000 m amsl) of Jammu, through
the temperate valley to cold high altitudes regions (1650-2400 m amsl) of
Kashmir. Breeding temperate rice and cold-tolerant rice varieties are
peculiar to Kashmir’s agro-climatic conditions and therefore, it is
different from the rest of India. This chapter focuses on many issues
pertaining to the development of temperate and cold-tolerant rice
varieties suitable for cultivation under irrigated conditions in Kashmir
valley and the hills around it. We discuss the issues, the progress, and the
way forward for rice research in this very significant Himalayan region
where rice is a staple food.
INTRODUCTION
Rice is an important food grain of Jammu & Kashmir. It is grown
across diverse agro-ecological situations extending from the subtropical
area {<1000 m amsl (above mean sea level)} of Jammu through cold hilly
regions (2400 m amsl) of Kashmir spread between 30.40 ˚N to 34.38 ˚N
latitude and 74.0 ˚E to 75.25 ˚E longitude. The shortfalls in rice production
are met through imports from the neighboring States. Of the total area of
252.52 thousand ha under rice in the Union Territory, 140.85 thousand ha
are sown with rice in Kashmir. Being staple food, it is a primary source of
calories in peoples’ diet compared to wheat and maize in Kashmir.
Rice is grown as a transplanted crop under the irrigated ecosystem in
Kashmir. Among the abiotic factors, low temperature is the major
production constraint whereas, paddy blast continues to be the most critical
biotic stress. Rice–oilseed (brown sarson) is the traditional cropping
sequence being followed in the plain area, and monocropping is largely
prevalent in the valley’s upper belts. Rice area in Kashmir can broadly be
categorized into two distinct zones (i) Plain or Valley basin area (1500-
1650 m amsl) that enjoys relatively favorable growing conditions in terms
of water, edaphic and climatic factors. Early maturing indicas form the
predominant group of rice varieties grown in this area. The growing period
is limited to 140-145 days. The improved rice varieties released for general
cultivation have increased rice production efficiency in this region to an
appreciable extent. The recent releases, particularly Shalimar Rice-1,
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Shalimar Rice-2, and Shalimar Rice-3 churn out around 10 t/ha in station
trials, and the yields obtained in the farmers’ field exceed 8-9 t/ha. (ii)
High altitude region, falling between 1650-2400 m amsl in the foot hills,
constitutes 10-12% of the valley’s total rice cultivated area. The region is
characterized by a short growing season, low atmospheric temperature,
cold irrigation water, and insufficient solar radiation. The growing period
is restricted to 120-125 days. The rice varieties cultivated in this area
generally belong to the japonica group. Though the rice varieties with a
genetic yield potential of 4.5-5.0 t/ha, having reasonable tolerance to cold,
are available for cultivation, the rice yields in this ecosystem are miserably
low (2-2.5 t/ha) and fluctuating due to climatic aberrations The population
in this region is living in a harsher climate which usually remains cut off
during winter months. This renders the food and nutritional security of the
people quite precarious. Therefore, the primary objective in this region has
been to improve their food security and livelihood security through
enhanced productivity.
HISTORY OF RICE RESEARCH IN KASHMIR
(MRCFC, KHUDWANI)
Given the great economic importance of the crop, rice improvement
work was started in the State during early 1940s with the establishment of
Rice Research Station, Khudwani, Anantnag (1650 m amsl) with a well-
defined mandate of evolving high yielding, early maturing rice varieties
having built-in tolerance to the biotic and abiotic stresses prevalent in the
target environment. The research station has an area of 20 ha out of which
15 ha are available for research and seed production purposes. To cater to
the high altitude region’s needs, High Altitude Rice Research Sub-Station,
Larnoo, Anantnag (2286 m amsl), having an area of 2.9 ha, was set up in
1978 under the administrative and technical control of Khudwani Station.
With the establishment of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural
Sciences and Technology in 1982, the station was transferred to the
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University and re-designated as Rice Research and Regional Station,
Khudwani. In 2011, the station was again re-designated as Mountain
Research Centre for Field Crops (MRCFC) in view of its significant
research contribution in crops besides rice and due to its peculiar location
catering to hill ecology. The intensive research efforts at the Centre have
resulted in developing a good number of promising varieties released for
general cultivation by the farmers. Agronomic packages of practices have
been formulated to realize the genetic yield potential of these varieties. The
Centre has a good seed production program. The breeder/foundation seed
of the released/recommended varieties is produced at the Centre and
supplied to the Department of Agriculture/indenting agency to produce the
quality seed for distribution among the farmers to enhance the productivity
of the crop.
NATIONAL COLLABORATION UNDER AICRIP
In partnership with DRR Hyderabad, MRCFC has made significant
progress under All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project (AICRIP),
which has been one of the most significant ICAR projects contributing to
rice crop improvement. The valley of Kashmir is unique in its agro-
climatic behavior, varying from colder and short duration summer season
in the high altitude regions (1750-2000m amsl) to the much better
conditions in the valley basin (1600-1750 m amsl). The outcome of the
research under this project, since its inception in the year 1968 to till date,
has been excellent vis-à-vis the introduction of elite genotypes under the
testing program, introgression of the elite exotic lines with local
germplasm selection of superior genotypes for target areas, and production
of high yielding varieties for both the diverse agro-climatic zones. The
notification of high yielding varieties like China-1039, Chenab, Jehlum,
Shalimar Rice-1, Shalimar Rice-2, and Shalimar Rice-3 (for valley basin
conditions) and K-78, K-332and Kohsar (for high altitude conditions) have
been instrumental in increasing rice production of 2356000 q in the year
1965-66 to 5637000 q in the year 2008-09 in the state from an area of
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196000 ha and 258000 ha, respectively. The productivity in Kashmir has
gone up from 13.24 q ha-1 (1965-66) to 24.50 q ha-1 (2008-09). The
contribution from the increase in area under cultivation has been to the
extent of only 30 percent (from 1965-66 to 2008-09), whereas the
contribution from increase in productivity has been nearly 100 percent
(Parray et al. 2008a). This achievement could not have to this extent
without the contribution from AICRIP. The varieties developed at
MRCFC, SKUAST-K, and Khudwani have been adopted for cultivation in
other countries, including Nepal and Bhutan. The Centre has pride in
developing varieties, notably K 39 and Barkat (K 78) that are being
internationally used as reference entries for identifying rice genotypes with
characteristics conferring tolerance to cold besides being utilized as
reliable donors for cold tolerance.
CONTRIBUTION OF MRCFC TO RICE RESEARCH
Development of High Yielding, Early Maturing, Cold Tolerant,
and Disease-Resistant Rice Varieties
During the two decades of the post-independence era a large number of
introductions from China were evaluated under local conditions. The
introductions, which out-yielded the local varieties, were introduced
among the farmers for general cultivation. These include China 1007,
China 1039, China 988, China 971, and China 972. Later on, the research
program on rice crop involved hybridization. This program was started to
develop superior quality, high yielding, cold tolerant, and blast-resistant
varieties. In this breeding program, photo-insensitive early-maturing
varieties having early vegetative vigor were selected. These selections and
some other promising introductions were crossed with donor parents,
selected for their disease resistance, high yield potential, and good quality
grains. During the last 2-3 decades, more than 2500 such cross
combination were studied, and single-plant selections were made. Many
high yielding and disease-resistant varieties were developed and released
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for Kashmir valley, Chenab valley, and high altitude areas through this
method (Husaini and Sofi, 2018).
The prominent varieties developed for cultivation in Kashmir valley
are described below:
CHINA 988
a. Released in 1955
b. Varietal group - Indica
c. Lodging and shattering resistant
d. Cold tolerant at early stages of growth
e. Moderately resistant to blast.
f. Maturity 147-150 days
g. Grain yield 5.0 – 5.5 t/ha
h. Recommended ecology- Upto 1650 m amsl
CHINA 1007
a. Released in 1956
b. Varietal group - Indica
c. Lodging and shattering resistant
d. Cold tolerant at early stages of growth
e. Resistant to blast
f. Maturity 145-147 days
g. Grain yield 5.5 – 6.0 t/ha
h. Recommended ecology- Upto 1600 m amsl
CHINA 1039
a. Released in 1956
b. Varietal group - Indica
c. Cold tolerant
d. Lodging and shattering susceptible
e. Moderately susceptible to blast
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f. Maturity 136-140 days
g. Grain yield 5.0 – 5.5 t/ha
h. Recommended ecology- Upto 1650 m amsl
K 39
a. Released in 1978
b. Varietal group - Indica
c. High yielding
d. Recommended upto 1650 m amsl.
e. Cold tolerant
f. Moderately susceptible to blast
g. Resistant to lodging
h. High head rice recovery (%age)
i. Maturity 140-145 days
j. Grain yield 5.5 – 6.0 t/ha
k. Recommended ecology- Upto 1650 m amsl
CHENAB
a. Released in 1996
b. Varietal group - Indica
c. Moderately tolerant to blast
d. Cold tolerant
e. Possess complete synchronous flowering
f. Better cooking quality
g. Maturity 138-140 days
h. Grain yield 6.0 – 6.5 t/ha
i. Recommended ecology- Intermediate zones of J&K
JEHLUM
a. Released in 1996
b. Varietal group - Indica
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c. High yielding
d. Better cooking quality
e. Medium bold grain
f. Cold tolerant
g. Moderately susceptible to blast
h. Maturity 138-140 days
i. Grain yield 6.0 – 6.5 t/ha
j. Recommended ecology- Upto 1650 m amsl
SHALIMAR RICE 1
a. Varietal group - Indica
b. High yielding
c. Resistant to blast
d. Recommended upto 1650 m amsl.
e. High head rice recovery
f. Maturity 142-147 days
g. Grain yield 6.50 – 7.5 t/ha
h. Recommended ecology-Upto 1600 m amsl
SHALIMAR RICE 2
a. Varietal group - Indica
b. High yielding and long straw
c. Resistant to blast
d. Better cooking quality
e. Highly resistant to lodging
f. Medium grain
g. High head rice recovery
h. Maturity 140-145 days
i. Grain yield 8.0-8.5 t/ha
j. Recommended ecology- Upto 1650 m amsl
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SHALIMAR RICE 3
a. Varietal group - Indica
b. High yielding
c. Resistant to blast
d. Better cooking quality
e. Highly resistant to lodging
f. Medium grain
g. High head rice recovery
h. Maturity 135-140 days
i. Grain yield 8.0-8.5 t/ha
j. Recommended ecology- Upto 1650 m amsl
SHALIMAR RICE 4
a. Variety group - Indica
b. High yielding (75–80 q/ha)
c. Resistant to blast
d. Early maturing
e. Cold tolerant
f. Easy threshability,
g. Recommended ecology- Upto 1650 m amsl
Figure 1. Temperate rice varieties (a) China 988 (b) China 1007 (c) China 1039 (d) K
39 (e) Chenab (f) Jehlum (g) Shalimar Rice 1 (h) Shalimar Rice 2 (i) Shalimar Rice 3.
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SHENEI
a. Yield potential (30–35 q/ha)
b. Moderately tolerant to blast
c. Cold tolerant
d. Maturity 130–135 days
e. Recommended ecology 1850–2200 m amsl
CHINA 971
a. Yield potential (30–35 q/ha)
b. Moderately tolerant to blast
c. Cold tolerant
d. Maturity 130–135 days
e. Recommended ecology 1850–2200 m amsl
BARKAT
a. Yield potential (38–40 q/ha),
b. Cold tolerant,
c. High head rice recovery,
d. Susceptible to blast,
e. Maturity 140–145 days.
f. Suitable for mid-altitude 1650–1850 m amsl
g. Universal donor for cold tolerance
K 332
a. Released in 1982
b. Varietal group - Japonica
c. High yielding
d. Highly resistant to blast.
e. Short bold grain
f. High head rice recovery
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g. Maturity 130-135 days
h. Grain yield 4.0 – 4.5 t/ha
i. Recommended ecology- 1850-2200 m amsl
KOHSAR
a. Released in 2005
b. Varietal group - Japonica
c. High yielding
d. Cold tolerance particularly at seedling stage
e. Moderately susceptible to blast
f. Grain Type : short & bold
g. High head rice recovery
h. Maturity 130-135 days
i. Grain yield 4.5 – 5.0 t/ha
j. Recommended ecology 1850-2200 m amsl
Figure 2. High altitude rice varieties (a) K 332 (b) Kohsar.
Hybrid Rice Programme
Since hybrid breeding has been contemplated as the potent technology
to boost rice production in the face of the limited scope for horizontal
growth, a hybrid breeding program was initiated at the Centre in 1999.
Seven CMS sources from different places were procured and were
evaluated for their adaptability (Sanghera et al. 2010a). Out of 7, four CMS
lines flowered and their floral and fertility studies were carried out. The
lines namely IR 68888A, IR 62829A, IR 68886A, and IR 68898A, were
used for the transfer of CMS system. The WA CMS system was
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successfully transferred to 2 promising adaptable backgrounds. Two well
adapted and stable cytosterile lines, designated as SKAU-7A and SKAU-
11A (Table 1 & 2), were developed, and effective restorers have been
identified. The temperate CMS lines have cold tolerance, medium
maturity, medium bold grain quality (Sanghera et al. 2010b).
Introduction of Basmati-Type Rice
There was a general conception that basmati rice belonging to the
tropical/sub-tropical zone, would not mature under Kashmir conditions. In
this regard, SKUAST-K introduced four fine-grain basmati kinds of rice
and evaluated them at MRCFC, Khudwani. These varieties i.e., Pusa
Sugandh-1, Pusa Sugandh-2, Pusa Sugandh-3 and Pusa Sugandh-5, were
assessed for maturity and aroma. Out of these four varieties, Pusa
Sugandh-3 matured with our released varieties and gave a yield potential
of about 5-5.5 tones/ha. Pusa Sugandh-3 has been introduced and
popularized in the plains of Kashmir valley and approved for cultivation
through ZREAC in plain areas of valley up to 1560 m amsl. More than a
hundred Front-line Demonstrations of Pusa Sugandh-3 were laid out in
farmers’ fields across the valley, and the farmers are slowly adopting the
variety in low-lying regions.
Figure 3. Pusa Sugandh-3 block at MRCFC, Khudwani.
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Table 1. Morpho-agronomic traits of temperate CMS lines SKAU 7A and SKAU 11A compared to
international CMS lines under Kashmir conditions
Genotype
No of
productive
tillers/plant
No of
tillers/
plant
Plant
height
(cm)
Panicle
length
(cm)
Flag
leaf
length
(cm)
Flag leaf
width
(cm)
Flag
leaf
angle
Days to
50%
flowering
Spikelets/
panicle
1000-seed
weight
(gm)
Days to
maturity
IR-58025A
11
24
79
25
29
1.5
14.60
110
127
26.12
145
IR-62829A
12
29
60
22
25
1.0
12.20
120
120
25.34
157
IR-68888A
8
20
57
23
22
1.1
12.70
115
111
24.00
153
IR68897A
9
21
49
20
25
1.2
13.00
112
119
26.83
145
SKAU-7A
13
32
94
24
25
1.2
16.92
98
151
24.77
137
SKAU-11A
10
28
92
24
24
1.1
20.76
97
121
25.06
140
Table 2. Floral traits of temperate CMS lines SKAU 7A and SKAU 11A compared to international CMS lines
under Kashmir conditionsIntroduction of basmati-type rice
Genotype
Duration
of open
floret
(min)
Angle of
open
floret
(Degree)
Ovary
length
(mm)
Style
length
(mm)
Stigma
length
(mm)
Pistil
length
(mm)
Anther
length
(mm)
Filament
length
(mm)
Pollen
sterility
(%)
Panicle
exsertion
(%)
Stigma
exsertion
(%)
IR-58025A
101
35
0.56
0.51
1.82
2.61
1.83
8.50
99.34
77.86
30.87
IR-62829A
95
32
0.59
0.54
1.54
2.95
2.10
8.34
98.10
82.81
37.98
IR-68888A
91
25
0.5
0.45
1.31
2.26
1.79
7.22
96.44
70.33
25.80
IR-68897A
89
30
0.52
0.48
1.50
2.50
2.12
7.04
95.59
73.49
26.18
SKAU-7A
95
29
0.54
0.53
1.65
2.72
1.94
7.70
98.44
70.93
32.85
SKAU-11A
88
28
0.58
0.51
1.56
2.65
1.82
7.75
97.30
66.28
22.22
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International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER)
After a lapse of 15 years, SKUAST-K re-established its collaboration
with IRRI, Philippines in 2006 and participated in establishing INGER
program for Khudwani and Larnoo stations. Under this program breeding
material (IRCTN, IIRON, IRFAN, IRTON, IRHON, IRBN, AERON,
IRDTON) developed at IRRI was evaluated, and the genotypes performing
well are selected especially for yield, quality, cold tolerance, and biotic
stresses. The material chosen was further assessed and used in
hybridization at the station. MRCFC is on IRRI’s priority, especially for
screening cold-tolerant material.
Foundation Seed Production Programme
Every year a large quantity of quality seed is supplied to the farming
community either directly or through the Department of Agriculture
Production, Government of Jammu & Kashmir as per their indent. Part of
it is sold to farmers at very nominal charges as truthfully labeled seed.
Characterization and Purification of ‘Specialty’ Landraces
After the advent of the Green revolution in India in the late 1960s, high
yielding rice varieties were popularized in Kashmir’s traditional rice
growing regions. Owing to high yield and more economic returns, farmers
adopted these varieties, which led to genetic erosion of many valuable
‘specialty’ rice genotypes. In view of the growing significance of rare
germplasm as a gene pool resource, some of these very important
‘specialty’ rice landraces of the Western Himalayan region were collected
and characterized (Ashraf et al. 2016, 2017).
Comprehensive studies were done to evaluate local pigmented/red
landraces (locally known as ‘Zag’) for many biochemical, nutritional, and
genetic characteristics (Ashraf et al. 2016, 2017). The study was successful
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in fishing out some of the rice genotypes possessing high dietary value.
Interestingly, these genotypes showed a considerable divergence between
them, which could be detected even by using limited (two dozen) SSR
markers. This could be due to the characteristics of a peculiar hill ecology
(Ashraf et al. 2016).
Two aromatic local landraces of rice ‘Mushk budji’ and ‘Kamad’ fetch
5-6 times higher price in the local market than common high yielding rice
varieties (Parray et al. 2008b). However, these varieties are grown as
complex mixtures and are highly susceptible to rice blast. Therefore
isolation of superior pure lines from farmers’ bulk and integrated
management of blast disease could help boost the farm income through
increased productivity. These two most popular scented local landraces of
rice, which are Kashmir’s novelty, were selected from farmers’ bulks in
different parts of Kashmir valley, purified through maintenance breeding
and characterized for yield, quality, and disease reaction and documented
in the Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad. These varieties are
being popularized in different parts of the valley and hill zone.
Mushk budji was released by SKUAST-K for commercialization under
Public-Private Partnership mode at the 3rd Agricultural Science Congress
of J&K (2014). The revival program bagged the Plant Genome Saviour
Community Award (2016) from Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers
Rights Authority, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of
India. Unlike basmati type, aroma retention after cooking is better in
Mushk Budji as compared to Pusa Sugandh 3, a long and thin basmati type
rice adapted to low altitude areas of Kashmir valley. The molecular
mechanism of the aroma gene in Mushk Budji has revealed the deletion of
8 bps “GATTATGG” and three SNPs in exon 7 of Mushk Budji. No such
deletion was found in non-aromatic rice varieties. Additionally, a
functional marker that targets the InDel polymorphism in exon 7 of badh2
was also developed for Mushk Budji (Sakina and Husaini 2020). These
findings can facilitate the development of short and bold fragrant rice
varieties through MAS, especially for high altitude cold regions and
Kashmir’s temperate valley conditions.
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Figure 4. Mushk budji block at MRCFC, Khudwani.
Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) and Participatory Varietal
Selection (PVS)
In 2011 a team of Scientists visited Nepal to benefit from their
expertise in participatory plant breeding/client-oriented plant breeding and
community-based seed production. In Kharif 2012, the R&D program on
PPB and PVS was initiated for rice at MRCFC, SKUAST-K and more than
16 mother-baby trials were laid across various villages in 4 districts of the
valley, comprising Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, and Budgam (Sofi et al.
2013). PPB is a technique for efficiently identifying appropriate varieties
that avoid customary lengthy delays in a pipeline system of product
innovation. In this linear system, from research to recommendation and
extension, many years are required before farmers can get access to one or
a few of the many varieties tested on the station. Three components of PPB
are breeding nursery, mother nursery, and baby nursery. The breeding
nursery comprises of crosses and segregating material being handled as
bulk population. Instead of the usual procedure of handling the large
number of crosses as single-plant families, the approach was modified to
attempting only a few ‘smart’ crosses, followed by the handling of their
segregating generations in the form of large bulk plots up to F5 generation.
Farmers are involved in the selection process to identify lines that meet
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their preferences as well as selection criteria. The varieties from the client-
oriented breeding program are tested in participatory trials using a mother
and baby trial system.
Encouraging results were obtained, and appreciation by farmers was
incredibly reassuring in remote and inaccessible areas. The program was
unfortunately abandoned in 2016 owing to the policy changes by the new
university administration.
Blast Management
Blast, Sheath blight, Glume discoloration, and brown spot are some
commonly observed rice diseases in Kashmir. Coordinated trials on
managing these diseases are being undertaken at MRCFC, Khudwani, and
different fungicides, botanicals, and biopesticides evaluated against these
diseases. Many germplasm entries under IRBN, NSN-2, NSN-H, and DSN
have been screened against blast, sheath blight, and brown spot. Many
promising entries have been identified, some of which are being used as
donors in the Centre’s blast resistance breeding program. These efforts
have resulted in the release of blast tolerant varieties like Shalimar Rice 1,
Shalimar Rice 2, and Shalimar Rice 3 (Husaini et al. 2011; Sanghera et al.
2011).
Based on the pathological trial results, the following fungicides have
been included in package of practices for control of the blast disease of rice
in Kashmir.
i. Seed dressing:
1. Tricyclazole 75 WP (6 g/10 kg seed)
2. Captan 50 WP (3 g/1 kg seed)
3. Mancozeb 75WP (2g) + carbendazim 50WP (1g)1 kg seed
ii. Seedling treatment:
Dip the seedling roots in any one of the following fungicidal
suspensions for 10-20 min before transplanting:
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1. Tricyclazole 75 WP (60 g/100 l of water).
2. Ediphenphos 50 EC (100 ml/100 l of water)
iii. Spraying:
Stage of growth
Recommended fungicide
Tillering stage
Tricyclazole 75 WP (60 g/100 l of water)
Panicle initiation stage
Ediphenphos 50 EC (100 ml/100 l of water)
Booting stage
Hexaonazole 5EC (30 ml/100 l of water)
Milking stage
Fujione 48 EC (isoprothiolane)
(100 ml/100 l of water)
Carbendazim 50 WP @ 2g/1 l of water.
Further, Mushk budji, a japonica aromatic local land race, is cultivated
in Kashmir’s niche areas. The variety is in great demand as it fetches a
high price in the market. However, the cultivar is highly susceptible to
blast. An integrated approach for blast management in this cultivar has
been standardized and included in package recommendations.
Technology Transfer
Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) have been widely recognized as the
most effective and useful extension activity to demonstrate the potential of
promising technologies to the ultimate clientele, i.e., the farmers in their
fields. The principle, seeing is believing, is operational in these
demonstrations as the farmers get easily convinced when they see the
performance of new technologies in their neighboring farmers’ field.
MRCFC has organized hundreds of FLDs, with financial assistance from
the Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India through Directorate of Rice
Research, Hyderabad. The results are encouraging and there is always a
strong demand from farmers for quality seed and inputs provided through
FLDs.
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Figure 5. Demonstration of modern production technologies to farmers.
Figure 6. Mr. Omar Abdullah, Former Chief Minister of J&K, along with former
Minister of Agriculture Mr. Ghulam Hassan Mir on a visit to MRCFC, Khudwani.
Awareness Programs
Field visits, Kissan melas (Farmers’ fairs), and training programs are
being conducted from time to time to provide know-how to the farmers and
stakeholders in Agriculture Departments about modern technologies, better
varieties, and management practices. Even dignitaries are invited to have
an on the spot look at the technologies. A forum is provided to the farmers
to discuss their problems with the higher administrative officials. Among
the notable dignitaries who have visited the centre are the former chief
ministers, cabinet ministers, officials of ICAR (Indian Council for
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164
Agricultural Research, New Delhi), internationally reputed scientists from
India and abroad. Most of them had a lot of appreciation for the
commendable contribution to the development of modern varieties and
their management technologies.
CHALLENGES IN RICE RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION
Arrangement of Labor For Transplanting
and Cultural Operations
In Kashmir, rice is cultivated between 1500-2400m amsl. The growing
season is limited due to the prevalence of low temperatures. The sowing
season commences as early as mid-April and terminates by 1st week of
May. Transplanting, by necessity, has to be completed before the 21st of
June. However, for better yields transplanting by 1st week of June has been
found ideal, and therefore labor arrangement is a major challenge during
the period.
Paddy Blast
Blast is the most severe rice disease in Kashmir and inflicts heavy
yield losses (30-80%) when environmental conditions are conducive for
the pathogen. Thus breeding for blast resistance constitutes an integral part
of the breeding program. The screening of germplasm for blast resistance
under controlled conditions has, therefore, become imperative.
Extended Duration For Breeding A New Variety
Only one rice crop per year is possible under temperate conditions of
Kashmir. Consequently, the development of a new variety takes as long as
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12 to 13 years. Efforts are being made to reduce this time lag by effective
utilization of off-season nursery at the Indian Institute of Rice Research,
Hyderabad, but due to the scarcity of available resources, it sometimes
becomes challenging to meet the expenses.
THRUST AREAS FOR RICE RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT - WAY FORWARD
In J&K, rice is the staple food, and its demand is increasing day by day
with the increase in population. It is cultivated both in temperate and
subtropical zones in 250.04 lakh hectares, with productivity of 19.71 q/ha
against the national average of 28.90 quintals/ hectares. However, the
corresponding figure in Kashmir valley is 22.44 q/ha. It is still far from
satisfactory because MRCFC Khudwani has already released varieties with
a yield potential of 80-90 q/ha. This shows that the seed replacement rate is
abysmal (3-4% per year). At present, the rice production in Jammu and
Kashmir is just 0.59 million tonnes per year against the total requirement
of 1.24 million tonnes. With the increase in population, there is a need to
increase production in the coming years.
Major increases in rice production have occurred during the last 25
years due to large scale adoption of high yielding, cold and blast-resistant
varieties coupled with advanced production and protection technologies.
However, the rate of increase in rice production has decreased, while the
rate of population growth is increasing. Therefore, severe food shortage is
likely to occur in 20-30 years if the trend is not reversed. Rice varieties and
hybrids with better yield potential, earliness, blast resistance, cold, and
drought tolerances are needed to be cultivated on lesser natural resources
using resource conservation technologies. The following need special
emphasis:
1. Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) efficiently identifies
appropriate varieties and avoids the expected lengthy delays in a
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product innovation pipeline system. In this linear system, from
research to recommendation and extension, many years (12-15
years) are required before farmers can access one or a few of the
many varieties tested on the station. Three components of PPB are
breeding nursery, mother nursery, and baby nursery. The breeding
nursery comprises of crosses and segregating material being
handled as bulk population. Instead of normal procedure of
handling the large number of crosses as single plant families, the
PPB approach attempts only a few crosses, and handling of the
small number of crosses and their segregating generations in the
form of large bulk plots up to F5 generation, wherein farmers
exercise selection to identify lines that meet their preferences as
well as selection criteria. The varieties from the client-oriented
breeding program are tested in participatory trials using a mother
and baby trial system. It takes only 7-8 years from research to
development to the farmers’ adoption of varieties because all these
processes go side-by-side with the farmer’s active participation. In
this way, the seed replacement rate increases automatically. In
order to develop farmer-centric varieties for better adoption and
increase seed replacement rate, systematic screening of the desired
rice types (already developed at the research station and F5
generation) by local farmers of an area through Participatory
Varietal Selection (PVS) can lead to useful site-specific
introductions. PVS will also generate a wealth of information
about the (a) farmer preferred traits and (b) trade-off between
traits. This information shall be useful in planning smart/clever
crosses followed by Participatory Plant Breeding for incorporating
such useful traits/genes into the existing varieties and landraces.
This would ensure genetic diversity on the ground and guarantee
sustained levels of high productivity.
2. The export potential of japonica rice of Kashmir needs to be
assessed. Improvement of a Japanese variety ‘Koshihikari’ could
be a thrust area along with ‘Zag’ and scented varieties of Kashmir.
Research efforts should be accelerated for developing efficient
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japonica rice varieties meeting stringent international cooking and
eating characteristic standards.
3. There shall always be a need to broaden the rice germplasm base
by arranging rice genetic resources from rice-growing temperate
regions of the world like China, Japan, Korea, the USA, Russia,
etc. Hence, the need to strengthen participation in INGER would
form a thrust are in future research. Besides, hill rice germplasm
resources of the country need to be evaluated through
multilocation testing. The proper characterization and
documentation would help utilize this germplasm more efficiently
and effectively for Kashmir.
4. Hybrid rice is one of the potent technologies to circumvent the
widely reported yield plateauing effects. Research and
Development Projects on temperate hybrid rice development need
strengthening through extramural funding.
5. A sizeable area of paddy is grown under waterlogged conditions in
Kashmir valley. There is no specific variety or technology
developed so far; accordingly, research in this area needs to be
taken up separately on a priority basis to harness the high
yields/production.
6. A quantum jump in rice yield in the valley is possible by
developing varieties, which produce higher biomass with a greater
proportion of grain, i.e., a harvest index of 0.5. The sink size can
be increased by increasing the number of grains per panicle with
reduced sterility percentage. Among the various rice groups,
“bulus” from Indonesia have the highest number of grains per
panicle, and varieties like IR-52, IR-62, IR-72 etc. can produce
higher biomass per unit time. Therefore there is a need to cross
such high yielding “indicas” with “bulus” from Indonesia and
evolve the segregating material for desirable genotypes suitable for
temperate region/valley.
7. The “Japonica” varieties developed under temperate conditions in
Japan have a very high yield potential. Japonica x indica
hybridization using wide compatibility varieties has been an
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effective strategy to develop indicalinous and japonicalinous rice
genotypes suited to different agro-ecologies. Earlier, a scheme for
Indica x Japonica hybridization was launched in the country to tap
this potential. However, satisfactory results were not achieved as
the Indica and Japonica crosses showed a high degree of sterility
even in advanced generations. Varieties with wide-compatibility
genes have been identified at IRRI, the Philippines in both these
rice groups. The potential of such cultivars needs to be exploited to
overcome the problem of sterility. The japonicas, which generally
show a higher degree of cold tolerance, can help evolve varieties
with a greater degree of cold tolerance, which is imperative under
climate change conditions. Efforts are being made to carry out
successful Indica Japonica crosses, a possible way out to break
yield plateau of the varieties for the very high altitude areas of
Kashmir valley.
8. In order to stabilize and enhance the present level of production,
resistance to diseases and pests has to be built in future high
yielding rice varieties. Cultivars with the resistance to several
diseases and pests have been developed elsewhere. These will be
used as donors in our crossing program to develop cultivars with
multiple-resistance, which can mature under the valley’s
agroclimatic conditions. Further, biotechnological approaches may
be used for developing blast-resistant varieties.
9. The evaluation of the local material for cold tolerance and
earliness has resulted in the identification of several local varieties
with cold tolerance, which can be profusely used in breeding
programs with exotic materials for improvement of plant type,
resistance to disease (especially blast), high yield potential.
Although several promising lines have been generated, this
program needs greater impetus in the coming years to get still
better results.
10. The preference of the population in the valley is for coarse-grain
rice, which is non-glutinous. Most rice types suitable for
cultivation under the local conditions, especially in the higher
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belts, are glutinous. Therefore, these glutinous rice types should be
crossed with “Indicas” to incorporate non-glutinous trait along
with characters like high yield potential, resistance to cold and
blast, and good cooking quality.
11. The research laboratories at the Centre need to be upgraded and
equipped with modern equipment to employ novel molecular
technologies in rice improvement. Further Low temperature is an
important rice production constraint in hill and boro rice. There is
an urgent need to establish a national centre for germplasm
screening against cold. High Altitude Rice Research Sub-Station,
SKUAST-K Larnoo, Anantnag, Kashmir situated at an altitude of
2286 m amsl is an ideal location for establishing a national centre
on cold tolerance screening.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The first author is thankful to Prof. G A Parray, Dr. Najeeb ul Rehman
Sofi and Dr. Gulzar Singh Sanghera for their cooperation and support.
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