Grain Quality Evaluation of WA-CMS-Derived Rice Hybrids Across Three Environments
B. Surender *
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India.
Ch. Damodar Raju
Seed Research and Technology Centre, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India.
B. Laxmi Prasanna
Rice Research Unit, Agricultural Research Institute, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India.
Ch. Suvarna Rani
ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India.
Y. Chandra Mohan
Agricultural Research Institute, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India.
Aparna Kuna
Directorate of International Programmes, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aim: This study aims to characterise physical, milling, cooking and physicochemical grain-quality variation among WA-CMS-derived rice hybrids and identify combinations with balanced quality performance across three environments.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Rajendranagar, Kampasagar and Kunaram, Telangana, India, during kharif 2025.
Methodology: Thirty-six F1 hybrids developed from three wild-abortive cytoplasmic male-sterile lines and twelve fertility restorers were evaluated with their parents and four checks in randomised block designs with three replications. Thirteen grain-quality traits were assessed from pooled multi-environment data. Pearson correlation, principal-component analysis and an equal-weight exploratory balanced-quality index were used to examine trait relationships and identify broadly desirable combinations.
Results: Wide variation was observed for milling percentage (55.00-75.67%), head rice recovery (45.72-61.20%), kernel length (4.79-6.73 mm), kernel length/breadth ratio (2.12-3.20), kernel length after cooking (7.73-9.54 mm), kernel elongation ratio (1.27-1.79), chalkiness (4.93-30.90%), amylose content (19.74-26.08%) and gel consistency (35.19-75.81 mm). RMS-2 × SN-2071 was superior for milling percentage and head rice recovery, whereas RMS-2 × SN-2756 recorded the lowest chalkiness. Milling percentage was strongly associated with head rice recovery (r = 0.96), kernel length was strongly associated with the length/breadth ratio (r = 0.85), and amylose content was inversely associated with gel consistency (r = -0.97). The first two principal components explained 43.9% of total variation. CMS-59 × SN-2183, RMS-2 × SN-2756, CMS-59 × SN-2705, CMS-64 × SN-2183 and RMS-2 × SN-2717 showed the most balanced overall quality profiles.
Conclusion: WA-CMS-derived hybrids exhibited exploitable variation for multiple grain-quality dimensions. The identified balanced-quality combinations merit multi-season validation, sensory assessment and market-class evaluation before advancement in hybrid-rice breeding programmes.
Keywords: WA-CMS, hybrid rice, grain quality, milling quality, head rice recovery, kernel elongation, chalkiness, amylose content, gel consistency, principal component analysis