TRY 4: A high yielding, mid early, sodicity tolerant rice variety suited to Tamil Nadu

Sodicity tolerant rice culture TR 05031, a derivative of the cross ADT 39 x CO 45 was released as Rice TRY 4 during the year 2021 as a mid early duration variety with 127 days duration with high yield, high milling (68.1%) and head rice recovery (57.2%). Twelve years of testing across 181 locations in Tamil Nadu revealed that the culture is high yielding (5730 kg/ha with 22.00 per cent increased grain yield over TKM 13 and 16.50 per cent over ADT 39) in salt affected soils. EDAX under SEM studies confirmed that, there was a lesser transport of sodium ions and higher transport of potassium ions from root to shoot in this culture, TR05031. Besides, TR05 031 maintain more tracheids/unit leaf area and accumulate salts to the outer epidermal layer through specialized trichomes, providing resistance to salinity. The culture TR05031 is resistant to major diseases viz., blast and brown spot and has field resistance to major pests viz., leaffolder, stem borer and gall midge. TR05031 with high yield, better pest and disease resistance and good cooking quality is suitable for cultivation during late samba/thaladi in salt affected patches of Tamil Nadu. The culture was released as TRY 4 during 2021 and notified by Government of India for seed production.