Abstract

The yield of rice landraces in the Sudan has been low due to genetic ceiling in the existing varieties. It is necessary to carry out breeding programs that deal with the production of high yielding, adaptable new varieties. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate genetic variability, heritability, genotypic performance and interrelationships among the traits. 18 upland rice genotypes and two checks evaluated at White Nile Research Station Farm, Kosti, of the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC), Wad Medani Sudan were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications during the two seasons of 2017 and 2018. All evaluated genotypes exhibited a wide and significant variation in the 13 measured traits. Genotypic coefficient of variation and genetic advance were recorded for days to 50% flowing, panicle length (cm), number of filled grain/panicle and 1000 grain weight in both seasons. High heritability and genetic advance were recorded for the number of tillers/plant, number of unfilled grains/panicle, biomass yield (t/ha) and grain yield (t/ha). Moreover, there was a highly significant and positive correlation of grain yield with biological yield (0.764), number of tillers per plant (0.439) and number of filled grain per panicle (0.423). The highest yielding five genotypes across the seasons were NERICA3 (5.2 t/ha), NERICA4 (5.1 t/ha), NERICA6 (4.9 t/ha), PAKIST-ck (4.7 t/ha) and NERICA12 (4.6 t/ha). It is recommended to be grown in White Nile state under irrigation upland condition after testing for seed yield stability.

Key words: Genetic variability, NERRICA, rice, yield.