Phenotypic and molecular characterization of advanced breeding lines of aromatic Katarni rice

Katarni is a non-basmati aromatic rice of Bihar, India, whose tall stature, weak culm and long maturity limit its productivity. Katarni was crossed with the semi-dwarf varieties Rajendra Sweta and BPT5204, and advanced breeding lines were developed through marker-assisted backcrossing and forward breeding. Twenty-two lines and three parental checks were evaluated during kharif 2023 for yield, quality and molecular traits using 13 trait-linked SSR markers and four gene-specific markers. High heritability with high genetic advance was observed for plant height, flag leaf length and grain yield, among other traits. Plant height and flag leaf length correlated positively with grain yield. SSR markers grouped the 25 genotypes into four clusters. The badh2 (aroma) and sd1 (semi-dwarfism) alleles were present in 19 and 21 lines, respectively. Lines EN10 and EN15 combined semi-dwarf stature, earlier flowering, the aroma allele and grain yield at par with the checks, and are proposed for multi-location evaluation.