Plant breeders are always on a hunt for appraising the nature of rice varieties when put in cross combination so that they can have useful plant types in segregating generations following hybridization. This could best be accomplished when one knows the combining ability (both general and specific), heterotic effect, and type of gene action of the parents for different traits. In this study, 10 rice varieties were crossed in a diallel fashion (excluding reciprocals). The data for the parents and 45 crosses were statistically analyzed and good general and specific combiners were sorted out....

Low temperatures of the tropical and temperate regions of the world make it difficult for rice breeders to develop varieties with high yield and desired quality. Cold temperature stress impairs growth of rice both at vegetative as well as anthesis stages. More in-depth study is required to study the genetics of cold tolerance in rice. This would enable breeders to tailor varieties for cold environments in a better way. In this study, crosses were made between cold tolerant and susceptible rice varieties. Subsequent generations were grown in phytotron at International Rice Research Institute...