Bg 409: A New High Yielding Rice Variety for High Potential Rice Growing Environments

Breeding rice for high yield is one of the important factors to increase productivity and ensure food security. A high yielding rice variety development program was conducted at the Rice Research and Development Institute, Batalagoda to increase the productivity of rice under favourable edaphic conditions. Out of the three lines selected from the cross of IR 72052-72-1-3/Bg 380, the best performed line Bg 08-1909 was nominated for the National Coordinated Rice Variety Testing (NCRVT) program. The line Bg 08-1909 performed better in the NCRVT, and tested with farmers’ adaptability trials with the check variety Bg 403. The line Bg 08-1909 recorded the highest yield of 8.8 t ha^-1 at Narammala (Intermediate Zone), and more than 6 t ha^-1 average yield in the Dry and Intermediate Zones during Varietal Adaptability Trials (VAT). The highest yield in the Wet Zone was recorded at Kesbawa (5.56 t ha^-1) and the average yield in the Wet Zone VAT trials was 4.6t ha^-1. The line is resistant to leaf blast and moderately resistant to rice gall midge, brown plant hopper and bacterial leaf blight and well adapted to environmental conditions of Dry, Intermediate and Wet Zones. The line Bg 08-1909 recorded good response from farmers on the aspects of non-lodging, high yielding ability and better resistance to pests and diseases. The line Bg 08-1909 was released as the variety Bg 409 for general cultivation. The Bg 409 is a four months age (115 days) rice variety with white pericarp, intermediate bold type grains, and acceptable grain quality characteristics and good appearances of cooked rice.