Developing new lines of Japonica rice for higher quality and yield under arid conditions

Rice is the world’s largest food crop, and its production needs to be doubled by 2050 to cope with population growth and associated demand. In addition to the value of improving yields, quality is also important for breeders and consumers, but it pays less attention in arid regions. During two successive summer growing seasons, the experimental material focused on 34 genotypes developed from different crosses on Fn generation after fixation as well as six of the most recent commercial cultivars used for comparisons. The results showed that a high yield of grain followed by high milling and grain quality characteristics were observed among the 34 genotypes used in this analysis. Highly important and positive correlations between the percentage of hulling and the percentage of milling (0.424) and the yield ability could be accomplished by choosing the number of panicles per plant and the weight of the panicles. Selection criteria for good quality should be met by the percentage of head rice and many mineral elements, particularly zinc and iron. As a consequence, the genotypes M.J 5460S/SK105-1, M.J 5460S/GZ7768-1, M.J 5460S/G177-1, M.J 5460S/SK105-3 and M.J 5460S/SK106-4 had desirable high yield and quality characteristics and could be used as promising accessions to the rice breeding program in arid regions. In addition to commercial genotypes, improved Japonica rice genotypes could be produced in arid conditions for higher yield and quality, leading to an increase in total production, supporting food security and nutrition.