Development of high yielding, premium quality rice variety in Bangladesh through mutation breeding

Premium quality, longest and finest with high yielding rice is not only the consumer preference of Bangladesh but also the globe of rice consuming people. Based on consumer demand and aim to earn foreign currency by exporting premium quality rice, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) has developed a premium quality boro rice variety named BINA dhan25 through Carbon Ion Beam radiation from Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). To create variability and change at genomic level seeds of BRRI dhan29 was irradiated with different doses of carbon ion beam. In M2 generation mutant lines were selected dose wise and grown into subsequent generations. In M6 generation RM(2)-40©-42-8 mutant line was selected from 40 Gy dose whose grain was extra long and slender in size, early maturing and higher yield. To check the performance over locations on farm and on station trials were conducted. Result revealed that the mutant line was matured 15-20 days earlier than the mother variety BRRI dhan29 and the average yield is 7.64t/ha with the maximum yield of 8.5t/ha in favorable environment. The most promising characteristic of premium quality rice is the length/breath (L/B) ration. The L/B ratio of dehulled grain of RM(2)-40©-4-2-8 mutant was measured 4.75 which resembles "Basmati" type - a popular long slender premium quality international rice variety. Other notable traits of the mutant e.g. % milling 70.1, % head rice 85, chalkiness less than 10%, amylose 25.1%, and protein 6.6% were observed. This mutant line is photoperiod insensitive, tillers no. is 15-20 per plant, panicle length is 29 cm., no. of filled grains 290-315/panicle. Days to maturity is138148 days and 145 days in an average duration. Considering all characteristics this mutant is released as BINA dhan25 in 2022 for commercial cultivation at farmer level which is the first longest and slender grained premium quality rice among developed rice varieties in Bangladesh. The farmers will be more benefited to cultivate this variety compared with other coarse-grained rice varieties. Therefore, BINA dhan25 helps to reduce the import dependency of premium quality rice rather creates opportunity to export in abroad which will fulfill the SDG goal of Bangladesh Government.