Pollen viability and associated traits in relation to fertility and yield of popular rice varieties under late sown condition

A field experiment was undertaken to determine the pollen viability and associated traits in relation to fertility and grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa L) of Indica popular (MTU 1010, MTU 1001, IR 64 and ADT 43) and Japonica (Hatsushino and Akitakomachi) varieties under late sown condition. The 11 characters viz; days to 50% flowering, panicle number, spikelets number, spikelet fertility, pollen viability (%), germination (%), glucose, fructose, peroxidase, starch and grain yield were recorded and analyzed. It was observed that days to 50% flowering minimum (earliest 82.3 days) for MTU 1001, followed by MTU 1010 (89.33 days) and the longest duration i.e., 130 days in Hatsushino variety. For pollen viability and pollen germination (%), highest i.e., 76.78% and 59.0% was exhibited by MTU 1010, followed by 75.50% and 57.0%, respectively in IR 64 and the lowest was in MTU 1001. The starch, glucose, fructose and peroxidase in association to pollen viability was investigated and it was observed that the highest % of starch was recorded in IR 64(79%), followed by MTU 1010(78%) and lowest in MTU 1001(74%) and for glucose content, the highest (134mg) was in MTU 1010 Hatsushino (133mg) were at par each other but lowest was in MTU 1001(110mg). As for fructose, the highest (1.82mg) in MTU 1010 followed by Hatsushino (1.73 mg) and lowest in MTU 1001(1.58 mg). For peroxidase assay, the highest in MTU 1010 (416 U/10ml) followed by IR 64 (400unit/10ml) and the lowest was in MTU 1001(243 U/10ml). The spikelet fertility was high (52.60) in MTU 1001, followed by IR 64(38.13) where as grain yield was highest in MTU 1010 (7.39q/ha), followed by MTU 1001(6.27q/ha) and the lowest in Hatsushino (3.00 q/ha) was recorded. From the results, it indicated that MTU 1010 was found significantly superior, followed by IR 64 among all the varieties under late sown at Allahabad subtropical agro-climate.