Studies on morphological characterization in soft rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes

Rice is the world‟s second most important cereal crop and staple food for more than 60 per cent of the global population. This paper focuses on morphological characterization using DUS discriptors for seventy five “speciality rices called soft rice genotypes” collected from different parts of north-east Assam. The lines were characterized for 62 agromorphological traits using DUS discriptors following UPOV guidelines (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants). The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications at Directorate of Rice Research Farm, ICRISAT Campus, Patancheru, Hyderabad, India.