Collection, evaluation and conservation of rices of South Asia with special reference to North-East India

South Asian countries are rich in rice germplasm resources which are maintained under varied phsiography, climate, topography and tribal cultures. IRRI has conserved nearly 50,000 accessions of rices from this region. Above 8000 diverse germplasms of rice were collected from northeastern hilly region of India by different agencies. NBPGR Regional Station, Shillong further collected 1541 accessions of rice from this region between 1985–1990. Diversity in rice germplasm resources,conservation ex situ or in situ, exploitation of these resources in rice improvement programmes and potential use of wild relatives of rice from above region is discussed. Further, systematic collection from unexplored areas in the region is suggested.