Evaluation of Grain Yields and Farmer Adoption for New Improved Rainfed Lowland Rice in Upper North Areas

Abstract

New improved thirteen varieties of rainfed lowland glutinous and non-glutinous rice derived from marker assisted breeding program by Rice Gene Discovery Unit, Thailand National Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) were investigated for grain yield and farmer adoption. The thirteen rice varieties viz. three lines of blast (BL) and bacterial leaf blight (BB) resistant RD6 (RD6-BL-BB), five lines of drought tolerant Khao Dawk Mali 105 (KD-DT) and five lines of improved IR57514 (IR57514-aroma) were grown and evaluated in two farmer’s fields at Phayao and Chiang Rai Provinces in wet season 2013. Grain yield of all 13 varieties were compared to Khao Dawk Mali 105 (KDML 105: non-glutinous variety) and RD6 (glutinous variety). The result showed that RD6-BL-BB displayed higher grain yield than RD6. Grain appearance and cooking quality (excluding aroma) in all RD6-BL-BB varieties were not significantly different from RD6. For new nonglutinous varieties, the mean values of grain yield and cooking qualitiey were not different from KDML 105, but these lines were infected by BB. For IR57514-aroma, medium amylose rice, had shorter grain than KDML105 which was not accepted by farmers. Farmer’s adoption for new improved rice varieties was assessed by participatory analysis method. RD6-BL-BB line RGD07585-7-B-MAS-47-2-6 showed high grain yield and dwarf type which were accepted by farmers in both of locations. This study indicates that new improved rice varieties can be the potential crop for rainfed lowland areas in the upper northern region of Thailand.