Assessment of androclonal variation in an indica rice PTB 28

Anther culture (AC) derived 160 doubled haploid (DH) families of an indica rice PTB 28 were field evaluated at Port Blair (lat 11 degrees.41'13.04"N; long 92 degrees 43'30.16"E), to assess the extent and range of induced variability among the androclones at segregating A2 generation and identify promising selectants for genetic improvement. Though the coefficient of variation (CV) for plant height was least (2.65%), majority of the androclones were shorter (81.7%). CV was high in case of panicle number per plant (24.59%) and tiller number per plant (28.28%), while it was maximum in respect of yield per plant (37.0%). Tiller and panicle number per plant registered maximum reduction compared to parent, however, displayed larger variations in double haploid (DH) lines. Out of 160 DH families, only 10 (6.3%) lines out-yielded the parent. Extreme types with wide variations were encountered which reaffirms the possibility of employing anther culture in rice improvement by restoring yield advantage in advanced generations or by tailoring them through recombination breeding.