Performance of Different Drought Tolerant Rice Genotypes under Lowland Rainfed Condition in Western Hills of Nepal

Bidur Gurung, Bishal Dhakal, Samjhana Khanal, Bishnu Bilas Adhikari

Abstract: A field experiment was accomplished to find out the performance of different drought tolerant rice genotypes under lowland rainfed condition at Sundarbazar, Lamjung, Nepal during rainy season 2014. The experiment was carried out in single factor Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications consisting eight droughts tolerant rice genotypes. The analyzed data showed that the genotypes IR-88965-39-1-6-4 (5.3 t ha-1) and IR-87760-15-2-3-4 (5.0 t ha-1) produced significantly higher grain yield than the other tested genotypes. The effective tillers per m2 were significantly higher in the genotypes IR-88965-39-1-6-4 whereas other yield attributing characters were statistically at par. Thus, the farmers of this region and having similar agro-climatic conditions are advised to grow these genotypes to get higher yield under rainfed and water stressed conditions.

Keywords: Drought tolerant, Grain yield, Rainfed, Rice