Rice accessions of Gorkha District of Nepal and their drought tolerance ability

Abstract

Nepal is considered as one of the hotspots of rice landraces. Currently, Nepalese farmers are attracted toward improved and exotic rice varieties, and hence, the local landraces are becoming endangered. On the other hand, rice has been facing problems of changing climatic events such as drought. This study aims to document the rice accessions from two of the villages of Gorkha District, Gandaki Province, Nepal, and assess the drought tolerance ability of the selected landraces. A total of 13 landraces and 5 improved rice varieties were reported from the study area. Among them, Anpjhutta and Anadi were the popular landraces while Mana-muri and Jhino-masino were disappeared from the study area. Other landraces such as Sobhara, Kalo-masino, Marshi, Taichin, Jhinuwa, Ekle, Seto-masino, Pokhreli, and Krishnabeli were the varieties that are at the risk of extinction. Desertion of seed storage habits, introduction of improved/exotic varieties, advertisement, and availability of seeds in the local market are the factors affecting the renunciation of the rice landraces. Results after growing the rice varieties such as Jhapamansuli and landraces Anpjhutta, Kartika, and Aanadi under drought-stressed conditions showed that the Anpjhutta and Jhapamansuli can accumulate high biomass as compared to others including improved varieties (Khumal-8 and Khumal-10). In addition, mycorrhizal association in these varieties was comparatively high than other varieties. In the varieties Khumal-10 and Anadi the mycorrhizae association increased in response to droughts. Overall, the varieties Jhapamansuli and Anpjhutta are the best-suited varieties under droughts in terms of biomass accumulation under drought stress. Therefore, such landraces should be preserved and utilized for the production of high-yielding and drought-tolerant varieties.