KHRS-21 lowlands (KHP-9) - A new high yielding in hill zone of Karnataka

Abstract

The hill zone of Karnataka comprises 22 taluks of eight districts. Paddy is the major field crop cultivated mostly as monocrop during kharif under rainfed situations viz., uplands, midlands and lowlands (11 °56' and 15°46' N latitude and 74°31' and 76°4' E longitude). Rainfall in the zone ranges from 2,363 to 3,466 mm, with an average of 2,915mm. Crop area in the zone is 2.85 lakh ha. with an annual production of 7.23 tonnes. It represents nearly 23% of the rice area in the state. Intan variety was released during 1976 and became popular in view of its blast tolerance, non-lodging habit (90-100 cm), long duration (160-1 p5 days) and higher grain and straw yield when cultivated by applying the recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (75:75:90 NPK kg/ha). However, it became susceptible to blast during early 80's and DWR 4107 (Hemavathi) was released in 1993 to replace it in area where blast incidence is higher and as supplement in areas where blast incidence is low [1]. In this region, farmers prefer tall varieties of long duration with medium bold grains. Thus, the present investigation was to evaluate the promising rice variety KHRS-21 for low lands in hill zone of Karnataka.