Agro-morphological variation of pigmented rice landraces from South Sulawesi grown in a temperate glasshouse of New Zealand

Abstract

The present study is aimed to compare the agro-morphological traits of 15 pigmented rice landraces and two modern rice varieties grown in the same environment. The selected rice were cultivated in a greenhouse of Massey University, New Zealand using a randomised complete block design with five replications. Data collection included agro-morphological observation and measurement. Quantitative data were analysed with analysis of variance, followed with Tukey HSD. Result showed considerable variability in seedling vigour, lodging, plant height, panicle exsertion, panicle thresh ability, spikelet fertility, and maturity among the studied pigmented rice landraces. Panicle exsertion and spikelet fertility indicate plant cope toward environmental change, which was performed better by many landraces than modern varieties. Variability in morphological characteristics was also recorded among tested varieties. Utilisation of the trait diversity can be useful for future breeding programs, which can lead to this crops’ improvement, including pest and disease resistance and grain quality research.