Journal of
Plant Breeding and Crop Science

  • Abbreviation: J. Plant Breed. Crop Sci.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2006-9758
  • DOI: 10.5897/JPBCS
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 450

Full Length Research Paper

Identification of rice genotypes tolerant to submergence at seedling stage in Uganda

Anna Bildadi Mlaki
  • Anna Bildadi Mlaki
  • Regional Center for Crop Improvement, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Production, P. O. Box 720 Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
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Paul Gibson
  • Paul Gibson
  • Regional Center for Crop Improvement, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Production, P. O. Box 720 Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
  • Google Scholar
Richard Edema
  • Richard Edema
  • Regional Center for Crop Improvement, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Production, P. O. Box 720 Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
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Jean Claude Habineza
  • Jean Claude Habineza
  • Regional Center for Crop Improvement, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Production, P. O. Box 720 Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
  • Google Scholar
Gerald Mwanje
  • Gerald Mwanje
  • Regional Center for Crop Improvement, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Production, P. O. Box 720 Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
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Jimmy Lamo
  • Jimmy Lamo
  • National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Cereals programme, Kampala, Uganda.
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Ephraim Nuwamanya
  • Ephraim Nuwamanya
  • National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Cereals programme, Kampala, Uganda.
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  •  Received: 02 June 2019
  •  Accepted: 18 July 2019
  •  Published: 31 August 2019

Abstract

Floods have destroyed over 2000 acres of rice in Uganda which affected yield and caused losses to farmers. This problem is more pronounced when fields are not well leveled, and the mode of irrigation is by surface flooding. Majority of lowland rice fields in East African region are of this nature and are thus prone to yield losses. There are no submergence tolerance varieties identified in Uganda, so far. To address this problem, breeding for submergence tolerance is the most ideal and promising strategy in rice. As a first step, genotypes tolerant to submergence need to be identified which is the objective of this study. 29 rice genotypes were morphological characterized in screen house and field conditions while 34 rice genotypes were molecularly characterized. Results suggested significant differences in the performance of genotypes both in the screen house and under field conditions in which varieties Swarna, IRRI SUPA 3 and KOMBOKA showed approximately 80% and above survival rate with Swarna variety ranking first. Molecular characterization of rice genotypes revealed that, out of 34 genotypes, 30 genotypes scored presence for Sub 1A-2 allele while, four genotypes were neither Sub1A-1 nor Sub 1A-2 alleles. None of the tested genotypes were carrying Sub 1A-1 allele.

Key words: Flash floods, submergence, tolerance, sub1, swarna