Genetic variability studies in physico chemical and cooking characteristics of land races of rice grown in Nilgiris

Abstract

Improvement of rice grain quality in order to meet the requirements of rice market and raised living standards is one of the important objectives of present day rice breeding. Due to the introduction of high yielding varieties and absence of conservation and improvement programmes, most of the land races possesing desirable quality attributes have gone out of cultivation (genetic erosion). Some tribal people still cultivate these land races in small areas, primarily for their personal consumption. To achieve superiority in terms of quality, the ‘immense wealth’ of indigenous land races may be included in the breeding programmes. Hence, an attempt was made to study the variability in grain physico-chemical and cooking quality traits of different land races collected from hilly areas of Gudalur, the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.