Diversity analysis of rice (Oryza sativa) genotype for improving the productivity for mid-hills of the eastern Himalayas

In the present study, 12 high-yielding varieties (HYVs) and 13 traditional landraces collected from the various places of north-east India were evaluated during 2014 and 2015 for genetic improvement of yield potential of rice (Oryza sativa L.) for diversity analysis for its wider adoption in mid-hills of Nagaland. Among the evaluated 25 varieties, 'RCPL 412′ (2.88 t/ha), 'IURON 514′ (2.61 t/ha), 'VL Dhan 209′ (2.53 t/ha), and ‘Rukhathang’ (2.52 t/ha) performed better in respect of yield potential than 'Bhalum 3′ (2.42 t/ha). Magnitude of the difference between pheno-typic and genotypic coefficient variation for the characters analyzed was relatively low, indicating less influence of environmental factors. High heritability with high genetic advance was recorded for yields, spikelet fertility, seeds/panicle, days to 50% flowering, panicle weight and panicle length. The principal component analysis (PCA) also identified that, yields, panicle weight, percentage of filled grain and seeds/panicle are the most important traits for classifying the variation among the genotypes. The PCA and cluster analysis revealed that, the presence of sufficient diversity among the genotypes and indicate hybridization of 'RCPL1 412′ with 'VL Dhan 221′ will be highly useful for development of short-stature early, high-yielding varieties of ‘Shengyayouh’ with 'RCPL1 412′ may produce the transgressive segregants for development of medium-duration and medium-tall, high-yielding pureline for mid-as well as hill altitudes of eastern Himalayas.