Analysis of Variation and Frequency Distribution of Grain Quality Parameters in F₂ Segregating Population of Rice

In rice, although productivity remains the main focus of the improvement programmes, the demand for rice is shifting towards quality. Quality traits are usually complex, controlled by the action of several genes, and the genetic improvement of these traits is hampered due to lack of understanding of the genetics and complexity arising out of genotype by environment interactions. Hence the investigation is done to study the variation and frequency distribution of physio chemical properties in a segregation population of CB 04 110 x KDML 105. Variation and Frequency distribution was estimated for Hulling percentage, Milling percentage, Head Rice Recovery, 1000 seed weight, Grain length, Grain breadth, Grain length/breadth ratio, Grain length after cooking (LAC), Grain breadth after cooking (BAC), Linear elongation ratio (LER), Breadth wise expansion ratio (BER), Gelatinization temperature (GT), Gel consistency and Amylose content. Wide range of variation was observed for the parameters. The frequency distribution was transgressive due to polygenic inheritance for hulling and milling percent, gel consistency, amylose content indicating improvement through recombinant breeding.