Identification of rice varieties based on seed and seedling characters

In this study, an attempt was made to characterize fifteen rice cultivars using seed and plant morphological traits. Identification/discrimination of all the fifteen rice cultivars were done utilizing 58 morphological characters based on National Test Guidelines and UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants). Based on anthocyanin pigmentation of stem, nodes and internodes, stigma colour, lemma tip color, grain and kernel colour, TKM 9 variety could be identified. The absence of auricle was observed in ADT 36 variety. While, based on leaf length and breadth, TKM 9, White Ponni and Bhavani varieties were identified. The characteristic golden furrow straw colour of lemma in ADT 39 and absence of white core and belly in ADT 42, ADT 45 and ADT 46 were observed. The cluster analysis of morphological data of both qualitative and quantitative revealed the grouping of genotypes into two major clusters based on anthocyanin pigmentation. In Cluster I, pigmentation was absent contained fourteen varieties and cluster II possessed only one variety (TKM 9), which had pigmentation on stem, nodes, internodes and seed.