EVALUATION OF DUAL PURPOSE BAO RICE (ORYZA SATIVA L.) VARIETIES OF ASSAM FOR FODDER AND GRAIN YIELD UNDER DIFFERENT CUTTING INTERVALS

Bao rice varieties have unique ability to grow under flooded condition and give better yield.Contemplating the significance, a total of 15 genotypes of bao rice were evaluated in a randomized block design at ICR Farm, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat-13 during kharif season, 2022 to study the fodder and yield attributing traits of bao rice.In the present study three cuttings were provided.Analysis of variance revealed significance variation among all the genotypes for the characters under study.It was observed that the yield and yield contributing characters were decreased by de-topping when compared with non-cutting genotypes.Maximum crude protein % and ash % was exhibited by the genotypes at 1 st cut (65 DAS) and were tend to decrease with increase in cutting interval.However maximum crude fibre % was exhibited by the genotype at 3 rd cut (125 days) and it tends to increase with cutting interval.Thus, it reveals that cutting has a significant influence on the genotypes for the characters under study.Genetic variability analysis showed that PCV is slightly higher than the GCV.High heritability along with high genetic advance was recorded for tillers per plant, panicle length, flag leaf length, flag leaf area and grain yield, green forage yield, crude protein%, plant height at 65 DAS and 96 DAS cutting and dry matter yield at 95 and 125 DAS cutting indicating presence of additive gene action.Thus, simple progeny selection will be beneficial for improvement of these traits.