Characterization of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes on UPOV guidelines

Characterization of germplasm is essential for its evaluation, judicious use and protection against illegal utilization. Present study was conducted to characterize forty six genotypes for 71 traits as described by CRRI descriptor based on UPOV guidelines. A total of twenty-seven traits did not show any variation. Only two genotypes had peculiar trait that can distinguish them from the rest. Certain trait like presence of awns and distribution of awns were found to be unstable. Efforts were made to identify group of trait that could be particular for a genotype. Twenty traits which showed significant differences were used for clustering, but dendrogram showed many discrepancies.