BREEDING MISSISSIPPI'S NEXT-GENERATION RICE VARIETIES

The overall goal of this project is to design and develop high-yielding, next-generation rice varieties widely adapted to the growing conditions of Mississippi, with tolerance to a suite of biotic and abiotic stresses required under a changing climate, and with the appropriate grain/milling/cooking/eating/processing quality characteristics preferred by target domestic and foreign markets.The specific objectives are:Obj1. To design, breed and develop high-yielding, early maturing, and short-statured conventional pureline varieties with excellent long-grain and milling quality traits and resistance/tolerance to a suite of biotic (e.g. blast disease) and abiotic (e.g. heat, cold, salinity, drought) stresses;Obj2. To design, breed and develop pureline varieties with specialty traits (e.g. herbicide tolerance, low-chalkiness, high-amylose content, industry-desired cereal chemistry profiles) for specific producers, markets, and end-users;Obj3. To assess the on-farm adaptation and yield stability of promising new breeding lines and introduced cultivars under the key rice-growing environments of the Mississippi Delta; andObj4. To understand the genetic basis of key traits for use in breeding and for broadening the genetic base of Mississippi rice varieties to sustain yield improvements on a long-term basis.