Evaluation of Newly Bred Zinc and Iron Enriched Rice Genotypes for Cultivation Under Aerobic Condition Using Genetic Parameters: Implication on Drought Management

This research focused on the evaluation of twelve newly bred rice genotypes with diverse morphological traits under aerobic cultivation to develop strategies for water conservation while maintaining grain productivity and quality. The experiment was conducted during the summer season of 2016, employing a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with wetland cultivation as a control. For analysis, various vegetative and reproductive traits namely, Plant height, Number of Tillers, Shoot Weight, Days to 50% flowering, Days to Maturity, Number of Productive Tillers, Panicle Length, Grain Weight, Length of the seed, Breadth of the seed, Ratio of Length and Breadth of the Seed, and Test weight of 100 seeds were recorded. Data on analysis of variance revealed the significant difference for days to flowering, maturity, plant height, panicle length, test weight, and grain yield under aerobic and wetland cultivation methods during the summer season, 2016, suggesting these traits are under high genetic control. Genetic parameters such as percentage of GCV, PCV, Heritability, and GAM were estimated across 13 parameters comprising vegetative and reproductive characters. The findings suggest a considerable amount of genetic variability for most traits, providing a foundation for the potential implementation of an effective selection procedure in breeding new rice varieties within the selected genotypes.