Rice(Oryza sativa L.)Breeding among Hassawi Landrace and Egyptian Genotypes for Stem Borer(Chilo agamemnon Bles.)Resistance and Related Quantitative Traits

Rice stem borer(Chilo agamemnon Bles.)is a primary insect pest of rice and is a major limiting factor to rice production.Breeding for insect-resistant crop varieties has been an economic way of integrated pest management(IPM)as it offers a viable and ecologically acceptable approach.This study was aimed to evaluate rice genotypes for their resistance against rice stem borer.Seven parental genotypes with twenty one F1 crosses were evaluated for genotypic variation in field experiments.Analysis of variance revealed significant differences for the studied traits in almost all crosses and parents.In addition,the mean squares of parents versus their crosses were signifi-cant for stem borer resistance and other associated traits.Moreover,both general combining ability(GCA)and specific combining ability(SCA)variances were highly significant for all characters studied in the F1 generation.Based on GCA,4 genotypes(Sakha101,Gz6903-3-4-2-1,Gz9577-4-1-1 and Hassawi)exhibited highly significant negative values for stem borer resistance(–0.53,–1.06,–0.18 and–0.49,respectively)indicating they are the best combiners for stem borer resistance.Based on SCA analysis,nine cross combinations showed highly significant negative effects for stem borer resistance.Similarly,the cross Giza178
Hassawi was the best combination with significantly highest value for early maturity.In addition,seven crosses showed highly significant negative SCA for plant height trait.On the other hand,for panicle length,number of primary branches/panicle,panicle weight and 1000-grain weight,seven,four,eight and six crosses showed highly significant positive SCA,respectively.The result further revealed that the non-additive dominance genetic variance was higher than the additive variance for all evaluated traits indicating that non-additive genetic variances have a role in their inheritance.The broad-sense heritability estimates were high for all the studied traits.The stem borer resistance was significantly correlated with panicle weight and 1000-grain weight,which also showed a highly significant correlation with grain yield/plant.Thus these traits can be effectively employed in a breeding program to confer resistance against stem borer infestation in rice.It was further supported by biplot analysis,which clustered these potentially important traits into two quadrants showing their importance in any future breeding program to control stem borer infestation.This study has contributed valuable information for evaluation of genetic diversity in the local rice germplasm and its utilization in futuristic rice genetic improvement programs.

Effects of Paclobutrazol Seed Priming on Seedlings Quality,Physiological and Bakanae Disease Index Characteristics of Rice(Oryza sativa L.)

Rice(Oryza sativa L.)is one of the most important cereal crops in the world.Bakanae disease is a significant rice disease widely distributed in rice-growing regions worldwide.Therefore,the present investigation aimed to assess the optimal concentrations of paclobutrazol(PBZ)as a treatment for rice grains(cv.Sakha 108)to control bakanae disease,also evaluating its impact on grain germination,seedling growth parameters as well as disease index.Paclobutrazol concentrations had no significant impact on seed germination,regardless of whether the seeds were incubated with Fusarium fujikuroi or not.Application of PBZ,either alone or in combination with fungal pathogens,negatively impacted the rice seedlings’height.Paclobutrazol at 25,50 and 100 mg/L,combined with the fungal pathogen positively impacted root length.Paclobutrazol at 3 and 6 mg/L mitigated the adverse impact on chlorophyll pigments content in infected seedlings.The highest proline contents were achieved by 100 mg/L PBZ alone or in combination with fungal pathogens.It has been observed that the application of PBZ,either alone or in combination with a fungal pathogen,leads to the enhancement of catalase,peroxidase,and polyphenol oxidase activities.The median lethal concentration of PBZ was 0.874 mg/L;applying low concentrations of paclobutrazol effectively increased the percentage of fungal growth suppression.Application of PBZ,at higher concentrations(50 and 100 mg/L),decreased infection percentage and disease severity index(DSI)significantly.These findings suggest that PBZ can be an effective treatment for controlling bakanae disease and enhancing resistance in rice plants.