Variability of cooking and nutritive qualities in some popular rice varieties of West Bengal

Twenty one indigenous and popular rice varieties of West Bengal, India including some aromatic rice varieties were evaluated for 15 different grain quality parameters to assess genetic estimates of the traits and genetic divergence of varieties. Wide range of variation was observed in many traits offering scope for selection. Incorporation of gene from aromatic rice to other high yielding varieties stands out to be an important proposition for improving protein content in rice. The low difference between phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation have suggested less environmental influence on the genetic control of these quality parameters. Heritability was high for almost all the traits. Head rice recovery (HRR) and volume expansion ratio showed high GCV, PCV, GA with high heritability indicating that selection to be effective if based on these traits. Canonical analysis revealed that protein%, volume expansion ratio, kernel breadth before cooking, HRR% and kernel breadth after cooking were the main contributors towards divergence. The varieties were grouped into 11 clusters through canonical analysis.