Abstract
Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that affect rice production in rainfed areas. Recent trends in climate change have predicted a further increase in drought intensity, making the development of new drought-tolerant rice cultivars critical to sustain rice production in this ecosystem. The use of grain yield as a selection criterion at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), through proper population development and precise phenotyping techniques, has allowed the development of several high-yielding rice cultivars that have been released in major rainfed rice-growing areas. This strategy has also allowed the identification of several major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that show large effects under drought across environments and genetic backgrounds. These QTLs are being pyramided together to develop drought-tolerant versions of popular drought-susceptible varieties. The near-isogenic lines (NILs) developed can replace the popular, high-yielding but drought-susceptible varieties in rainfed areas prone to drought. Additionally, these NILs serve as suitable genetic material for the study of molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying these QTLs. This may provide a better understanding of plant functions responsible for high grain yield under drought and lead to the identification of new traits and genes.
Highlights
IntroductionChanging climatic conditions around the world demand constant efforts to understand and adapt to environmental challenges for sustainable crop production
Climate change threatens the sustainability of modern-day agriculture
This is probably one of the reasons most traditional drought tolerance donors do not do well under nonstress conditions or under mild stress conditions where yield potential becomes as important as tolerance for drought in maintaining yield levels. These findings have shown the importance and suitability of direct selection for grain yield under drought stress and nonstress conditions in combining high yield potential with drought tolerance
Summary
Changing climatic conditions around the world demand constant efforts to understand and adapt to environmental challenges for sustainable crop production. Majority of the rice produce comes from developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. While these areas contribute to a major share of world rice production, a large proportion of rice in these areas is grown by small and marginal farmers with minimum inputs and infrastructure. Apart from this, recent climate change trends point to increasing water deficit in the coming years [1]. This may lead to a further increase in the intensity and frequency of drought. Summarizes the effects of these QTLs on other traits that contribute to drought tolerance in rice and discusses ongoing activities in this field and future perspective
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