Two breeding lines of rice resistant to the rice root-knot nematode

Abstract

The rice root knot nematode, Meloidogyne graminicola, is the major nematode pest in uplands and direct sown medium land paddies. Control of the pest by crop rotation is difficult as the pest is highly polyphagous. The most feasible control option is the use of resistant cultivars. True resistance is lacking in the cultivated rice genome, therefore there is the need to identify good sources of resistance for incorporation into high yielding but otherwise susceptible rice cultivars. Two F9 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) viz. Accession No. CR3003-11-186 and CR3003-184, derived from crosses of Annapurna × Ramakrishna, were found highly resistant to the nematode and can be used as donors in breeding programmes for resistance to it.