Hybrid Rice Breeding Manual

Heterosis breeding and hybrid rice; Male sterility systems in rice; Organization of hybrid rice breeding program using CMS system; Source nursery; CMS maintenance and evaluation nursery; Testcross nursery; Restorer purification nursery; Backcross nursery; Combining ability nursery; Breeding rice hybrids with TGMS system; Nucleus and breeder seed production of A, B, R, and TGMS lines; Seed production of experimental rice hybrids; Evaluation of experimental rice hybrids; Improvement of parental lines; Methods of enhancing the levels of heterosis; Quality assurance procedures in hybrid rice breeding.

Rice is the most important food crop of the developing world and the demand for it is growing. Provided here is a concise account of hybrid breeding in rice, a newly deployed breeding approach to increase the yield. Research on heterosis, male sterility systems, outcrossing mechanisms, disease/insect management, and grain quality considerations in hybrid rice are reviewed. The book contains a wealth of useful information for practicing hybrid rice breeders, seed producers, researchers, and students of plant breeding.

Collection contains the proceedings of the four previous International Hybrid Rice Symposia, plus the Two-line hybrid rice breeding manual and the terminal report of the IRRI-Asian Development Bank project Sustaining food security through the development of hybrid rice technology.

This symposium is a follow-up to one held in China in 1986. Since then considerable progress has been made in research and development of hybrid rice. This second international symposium was held under the umbrella of the International Rice Research Conference. Eighty scientists and seed production experts from 18 countries, IRRI and FAO attended. Contributions covered breeding, biotechnology, seed production, agronomy, plant physiology, plant pathology, entomology and economics.