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Rice in India: Present Status and Strategies to Boost Its Production Through
Hybrids

Article  in  Journal of Sustainable Agriculture · May 2006

DOI: 10.1300/J064v28n01_04

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 Rice in India:
Present Status and Strategies to Boost
Its Production Through Hybrids
R. H. Wanjari
K. G. Mandal
P. K. Ghosh
Tapan Adhikari
N. H. Rao

ABSTRACT. Rice accounts for a significant contribution to the total

food grain production in India. As the rice production area either stabi-
lizes or declines, and there is a wide gap between projected demand and
current level of production, vertical growth in production through hybrid
rice is a practically feasible and adoptable technology. This paper at-
tempts to elucidate the current scenario, strategies and agro-techniques
for seed as well as grain production, quality parameters and economic
aspects of hybrid rice in India. As the seed production of hybrid rice is
knowledge and labor intensive, different agro-techniques need to be
adopted to make it more successful. The two parental lines should be
sown and transplanted at the right time with an isolation distance of
50-100 m. For synchronized flowering, the differential seeding of paren-
tal lines can be based on their effective accumulated temperature

R. H. Wanjari, Scientist (Agronomy), K. G. Mandal, Scientist (Agronomy) (E-mail:

[email protected]), P. K. Ghosh, Scientist (Agronomy) (E-mail: [email protected]),
and Tapan Adhikari, Scientist (Agronomy) (E-mail: [email protected]); are all affili-
ated with the Indian Institute of Soil Science, Nabibagh, Berasia Road, Bhopal-462
038, Madhya Pradesh, India.
N. H. Rao is Principal Scientist at the National Academy of Agricultural Research
Management, Hyderabad-500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Address correspondence to: R. H. Wanjari, Indian Institute of Soil Science, Nabibagh,
Berasia Road, Bhopal-462 038, Madhya Pradesh, India (E-mail: [email protected]).
Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, Vol. 28(1) 2006
Available online at http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JSA
 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1300/J064v28n01_04 19
20 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

(12-27°C) from seeding to flowering. The optimum ratio for plants of

the seed to pollen parent should ensure 3.5 spikelets of the seed parent
for each spikelet of the pollen parent. Thus the commonly used seed to
pollen parent ratios are 10:3, 6:2 and 14:2. Cultural practices like con-
trolling weeds and pests, roguing of off-types are essential. Application
of GA3 at 15-20 g ha⫺1 should be sprayed with ULV sprayer to over-
come poor panicle exsertion of parental lines. The agronomic practices
for large scale grain production include the seed rate of 15 kg ha⫺1, opti-
mum seeding density of 10-20 g m⫺2 in the nursery, transplanting of a
single seedling per hill with the spacing of 15 cm ⫻ 15 cm. Though nu-
trient requirement differs with type of soil and initial fertility, a general
dose of 120-150 kg N, 60 kg P2O5 and 50 kg K2O and 20 kg S ha⫺1 is re-
quired. Application of ZnSO4 @ 40 kg ha⫺1 once in every three crop
seasons is needed in the Zn-deficient areas. The grain quality charac-
teristics include long slender (LS) grain, 60-70% milling and 24-31%
amylose content. Seed quality control is another essential requirement
that should be maintained throughout the process of seed production. A
net profit of Rs. 25000 ($ 550) per ha can be obtained by taking up
hybrid rice seed production. Moreover, integrated efforts of policy
makers, researchers, extension workers and farmers would be desirable
to make hybrid rice cultivation a successful endeavor in India. [Article
copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-
HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website:
<http://www.HaworthPress.com>  2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights
reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Agro-techniques, economics, grain quality, hybrid rice,

India, seed productions

INTRODUCTION

The success of Indian agriculture has received worldwide apprecia-

tion as food grain production increased from 50.8 million tons (mt) in
1950-51 to 182.57 mt in 2002-03, and this total food grain production
comprised of 66.51 mt of rice, 69.32 mt of wheat, 26.22 mt of coarse cere-
als, and 11.31 mt of pulses (Hindu Survey, 2004). Rice continues to hold
the key component for sustainable food production in the country. The
demand for rice in India is projected at 128 mt by the year 2012 and will
require a yield level of 3.0 t ha⫺1 that is significantly greater than the pres-
ent average yield of 1.93 t ha⫺1. Moreover, the supplementary report of
Better Crops International opined that rice production followed the ups
and downs in India. India’s yields are too low (4.2 t paddy ha⫺1) even
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 21

under irrigated condition compared to other countries (6.1 and 9.3 t ha⫺1
for China and Egypt, respectively).
Again, only 51% of the total rice area is under irrigation. This low level
of productivity in India is due to degraded and less fertile soils, pests and
diseases, low input use, faulty cropping systems, and a low adoption rate of
improved technologies by the farmers. Thus, the yield gap (difference be-
tween achievable yield under on-station experimental condition and aver-
age farmer’s field) in India is in the range of 35 to 75%, with the exceptions
of Tamil Nadu (15%) and Punjab (22%). The gap itself was taken as an op-
portunity and if research/development efforts are given priority to narrow
down it, the production target goal would be attainable. Even if rice pro-
duction areas stabilize or register negative growth, future rice production
targets must be achieved exclusively through yield improvement. Yield
gap analysis further reveals that 30 to 40 percent of the potential yield is yet
to be tapped with available high yielding varieties (HYVs).
This yield gap indicates that the present production level needs to be
increased. This is a daunting task, in view of plateauing trend observed in
yield potential of high yielding varieties, and declining natural resource
base. This increase in production is to be achieved without disturbing the
delicate environmental balance. Proper crop management practices and
genetic approaches are the possible ways to achieve this target. Among
the various possible genetic approaches hybrid rice technology is a feasi-
ble and readily adaptable technology. The Republic of China has the suc-
cess story of growing hybrid rice contributing more than 60% of the total
rice production. Thus, development as well as cultivation of hybrid rice is
considered as one of the important strategies in India to boost the produc-
tivity of rice.
Further, the productivity of hybrid rice could be enhanced substantially
through improved agronomic packages viz., appropriate seed rate, opti-
mum seeding density, spacing, balanced and optimum fertilizer use etc.
This paper focuses on the strategies to boost rice production through
hybrids. The study also highlights the technologies for hybrid seed produc-
tion, its agronomic practices, quality characteristics, pest and disease resis-
tant hybrids, and analyses the economic viability. The study also proposes
the commercialization of hybrid rice cultivation on a large scale.

HYBRID RICE SCENARIO IN INDIA

At present hybrid rice is grown only on 0.2 million ha area as against

44.6 million ha under high yielding rice cultivation in India. Area under
22 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

hybrid rice will further increase after heterotic hybrids suitable for high
productivity areas of northern India (states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh), southern India (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and coastal region of
Andhra Pradesh) and in shallow lowland areas of eastern India (West
Bengal, Assam and Tripura). Plant breeders in the Government and
Private sectors have evolved some hybrids for different states in India
(Table 1). These hybrids possess a mean grain yield of 6.0-7.9 t ha⫺1 with
10-44% higher yield over the popular high yielding varieties (HYVs) as
is evident from Table 1. Out of the hybrids released so far, large-scale
seed production of only five hybrids viz., DRRH-1, KRH-2, Sahyadri,
PHB-71 and PA-6201 has been taken up by the public and private sector
seed agencies. Hence, seed of the abovementioned hybrids is available to
the farmers for undertaking large-scale cultivation.

STRATEGIES TO BOOST RICE PRODUCTION

THROUGH HYBRIDS

Hybrid Rice vis-à-vis HYVs. Hybrid rice differs from HYVs in many
of the following aspects:
• Seed rate of hybrids is 65-70% less than that of HYVs.
• Hybrid rice is more responsive to fertilizers than HYVs.
• Average spikelets per panicle produced in hybrids are generally
more than that of HYVs.
• During vegetative growth stage, hybrid rice accumulates more
dry matter which results in more spikelets per panicle, whereas in
HYVs spikelets per panicle is governed by the accumulation of
assimilates after heading.
• About 90% of grain carbohydrates comes from photosynthetic as-
similation after heading in early maturing HYVs, while in hybrid
rice 30-40% of the grain carbohydrate comes from assimilation
before heading and remaining 60-70% comes after heading.
• Hybrids and HYVs have similar grain filling percentage at sub-
optimal and optimal plant densities. However, at higher plant den-
sity, it is comparatively low in hybrids.
Commercial exploitation of hybrid vigour is one of the most important
applications of genetics in agriculture. It has not only contributed to food
security, but has also benefited the environment (Duvick, 1999). Within
a decade, some commercially usable cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) and
restorer lines and some elite hybrids were identified and shared with
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 23

TABLE 1. Hybrids released in India.

Name of hybrid/ Cross Duration Yield (t ha⫺1)† Yield Released for

Year of release (days) advantage the state of
over
Hybrid Check
check (%)
APHR-1 (1994) IR58025A/ 130-135 7.14 5.27 35.4 Andhra Pradesh
Vajram (Chaitanya)
APHR-2 (1994) IR62829A/ 120-125 7.52 5.21 44.2 Andhra Pradesh
MTU9992 (Chaitanya)
CORH-1 (1994) IR62829A/ 110-115 6.08 5.23 16.2 Tamil Nadu
IR10198 (IR 50)
KRH-1 (1994) IR58025A/ 120-125 6.02 4.58 31.4 Karnataka
IR9761 (Mangala)
CNRH-3 (1995) IR62829A/ 125-130 7.49 5.45 37.4 West Bengal
Ajaya (Khitish)
DRRH-1 (1996) IR58025A/ 125-130 7.30 5.50 32.7 Andhra Pradesh
IR40750 (Tellahamsa)
KRH-2 (1996) IR58025A/ 130-135 7.40 6.10 21.3 Karnataka
KMR-3 (Jaya)
Pant Sankar IR58025A/ 115-120 6.80 6.20 9.7 Uttar Pradesh
Dhan-1 (1997) UPRI (Pant
93-133 Dhan-4)
CORH-2 (1998) IR 58025A x 120-125 6.25 5.20 20.2 Tamil Nadu
C20R (ADT 39)
ADTRH-1 (1998) IR58025A/ 115-120 7.10 4.90 44.9 Tamil Nadu
IR66 (ASD-18)
Sahyadri (1998) IR58025A/ 125-130 6.64 4.89 35.8 Maharashtra
BR 827-35 (Jaya)
Narendra Sankar IR58025A/ 125-130 6.15 4.94 24.5 Uttar Pradesh
Dhan-2 (1998) NDR 3026 (Sarjoo-52)
PHB 71 (1997)‡ - 130-135 7.86 6.14 28.0 Haryana, UP,
(PR 106) TN
PA 6201 (2000)‡ - 125-130 6.18 5.03 22.9 Eastern and
(Jaya) some parts of
Southern India.
HRI-120 (2001)‡ - 135-140 6-11 4.91 24.40 UP, Bihar,
(Jaya) Tripura, Orissa,
AP, Karnataka,
Maharashtra
Pusa RH-10 - 120-125 4.35 3.11 39.90 Haryana,
(2001) (Pusa Punjab,
Basmati-1) Western UP,
Delhi
†On-farm trials.
‡Private bred hybrid released by Central Variety Release Committee (CVRC).
24 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

National Agricultural Research System in India for evaluation and

utilization. Some of these hybrids were released for commercial cultiva-
tion in the Philippines (IR64616H, IR68284H), India (IR64611H,
IR64618H, IR69690H), Vietnam (IR64615H, IR64616H, IR69690H) in
the years 1993-1998. Some IRRI CMS lines, IR58025A and IR62829A,
were also used by national programs to develop local hybrids in India
(e.g., APHR-1, APHR-2, CORH-2, KRH-2, ADTRH-1) and the Philip-
pines. Concurrently, several private seed companies in Asia were also
provided with IRRI-bred parental lines.
Since rice is a self-pollinated crop, hybrid seed production must be
based on male sterility systems. These may be cytoplasmic (CMS),
thermo-sensitive genic (TGMS) or photo-sensitive genic (PGMS). Hy-
brid seed production technology involving these male sterility systems
is complex and labor-intensive. It also requires a sophisticated seed
industry infrastructure.
Seed yield from a male sterile line used in hybrid rice seed production
is a function of three factors. First is the yielding ability of the male sterile
line, as determined by the yielding ability of its maintainer, the fertile
counterpart. Second is the proportion of the male sterile line to the pollen
parent. The third is the out crossing rate of the male sterile line. Improve-
ment in any of these three factors can help to increase the seed yields of
hybrid rice. Extensive research has led to the identification of the follow-
ing guidelines for successful hybrid rice seed production (Yuan, 1985;
Mao, 1988; Virmani, 1994a; Mao, 2001).

Seed Production

Hybrid rice seed production technology is different from that for in-
bred rice seed production, and is more complex than the seed production
for many other hybrid crops. Currently, the most popular male sterility
system is the CMS (popularly known as the three-line system in China).
This utilizes three different lines, namely a cytoplasmic male sterile line
(A line), a maintainer (B line), and a restorer (R line). Using this system
for the commercial production of hybrid seeds involves two major steps
viz., the multiplication of the A line (female parent) and the production of
hybrid (F1) seeds. The other system, which is gaining popularity in China
and Vietnam, involves a seed parent which is an environmentally sensi-
tive genetic male sterile (EGMS) or S line. This system requires neither a
maintainer (B) nor a restorer (R) line. The seed parent can be multiplied
just like any conventional inbred when planted in a fertility-inducing
environment, while in a sterility-inducing environment it becomes male
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 25

sterile and may serve as a seed parent in producing F1 hybrid seed. Any
line found to form heterotic combinations with a particular S-line can be
used as its pollen parent to produce a hybrid. Since this system involve
two lines (TGMS or PGMS, and a pollen parent) to produce the hybrid
seed, it is also known as a two-line system (Yuan, 1994).
Progress of hybrid rice seed production. The large-scale seed produc-
tion in India, in the initial phase, has been impressive as compared to the
progress made in China at similar stage. In China, it took more than five
years to attain an average seed yield of 1.0 t ha⫺1 and only after a decade,
average seed yields of 1.5 t ha⫺1 were attained. In India, average seed
yields of 1.5 t ha⫺1 are being obtained after five years of initiating large-
scale seed production. Seed yields can be increased further by utilizing
the new CMS lines with higher out crossing potential, now under devel-
opment in Indian hybrid rice breeding programs and through further
refinement of seed production technology. In 2004, 6000-8000 tons of
hybrid rice seed was produced in India. The leading private sectors seed
companies of hybrid rice seed production are Hybrid Rice International,
PHI, Mahyco, Indo-American, Parry Monsanto, Advanta India, Syngenta,
and Nath Seed company. Half a dozen other private seed companies are
also engaged in hybrid rice seed production on a smaller scale. Among
public sector seed agencies, National Seed Corporation (NSC), State
Farms Corporation of India (SFCI), Andhra Pradesh State Seed Develop-
ment Corporation (APSSDC), Karnataka State Seed Development
Corporation (KSSDC), West Bengal State Seed Development Corpora-
tion (WBSSDC), and U.P. and Terai Seed Development Corporation
(UPTSDC) are presently engaged in hybrid rice seed production on much
smaller scale. All these public sector seed agencies put together produce
around 100 tons of hybrid rice seed annually.
The following practices need to be taken into consideration for the
hybrid rice seed production to be successful (Yuan, 1985; Virmani and
Sharma, 1993; Virmani, 1994a; Virmani, 1996).
Isolation distance. Suitable field conditions include fertile soil, a
dependable irrigation and drainage system and a low risk of disease and
insect infestations. A field should be used which is isolated from other
rice varieties by a distance of 50-100 m, difference in time of flowering
by at least 3 weeks or some natural or artificial barrier. The isolation dis-
tance can be decreased by increasing the number of pollen parent rows
around the seed production plot.
Timing of seeding of parent lines. The two parental lines should be sown
and transplanted at the right time so that their flowering is synchronized.
26 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

This is the most critical step in hybrid seed production, and is practiced by
using one of the three methods described below:

• The seeding date of the two parents can be determined according

to the difference in time they take to reach maturity. The parent
which matures earlier must be sown later than the other parents.
• The seeding date of the two parents can be determined by the dif-
ference in the number of leaves at the main culm. If this trait is sta-
ble, the date of seeding of the early heading parent can be decided
according to the predetermined number of leaves present on the
later heading parent.

The differential seeding of parental lines can be based on their effec-

tive accumulated temperature (EAT) from seeding to flowering. The
EAT of a particular variety is calculated by summing up the mean tem-
perature of days with a range of 12 to 27⬚C. The parent which has a higher
EAT is sown earlier, and the other parent is sown after the difference in
EAT between the two has accumulated.
In China, conditions favorable for good outcrossing in rice have
been identified as daily temperature of 24-28⬚C, a relative humidity of
70-80%, a diurnal difference in temperature of 8-10⬚C and sunny days with
a breeze (Xu and Li, 1988). The flowering behavior traits influencing out-
crossing in rice are: number of days of blooming, time of blooming, dura-
tion of blooming, duration of floret opening, and angle of floret opening.
Optimum ratio of seed parent to pollen parent. The plant characteris-
tics which influence this ratio include small and horizontal flag leaves,
the number of panicles per square meter, the number of spikelets per pan-
icle, good panicle exsertion, and synchronized flowering of seed and
pollen parents. The floral traits influencing outcrossing in rice include:
stigma size, style length, stigma exsertion (in seed parent) and anther
length, filament length, and pollen number/anther (in pollen parent).
The optimum seed parent to pollen parent ratio must be used, accord-
ing to the spikelet number per panicle of parental lines, and the size of the
pollen load of the pollen parent. The seed parent is planted densely to in-
crease the number of spikelets per square meter. The pollen parent is
more widely spaced to promote tillering and help ensure that the pollen
load is greater over a longer period. A sufficient number of pollen grains
must be deposited on the stigma lobes of each spikelet of the seed (male
sterile) parent. High pollen shedding potential is attained by getting
2000-3000 spikelets m⫺2 to bloom per hour during peak flowering pe-
riod. The optimum ratio for plants of the seed to pollen parent should
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 27

ensure 3.5 spikelets of the seed parent for each spikelet of the pollen
parent. Some commonly used seed parent to pollen parent ratios are 10:3,
6:2 and 14:2. In extreme cases, a ratio of 16:2 has been used. Planting of
seed and pollen parent rows should be in the direction across prevailing
wind and supplementary pollination may be made with a rope or stick
when wind velocity is below 2.5 m sec⫺1.
Cultural management. The following cultural management is essential:
1. Weeds, diseases and insects must be controlled, and the optimum
fertilizer rate must be applied.
2. If the parental lines have long, erect flag leaves that might obstruct
the movement of pollen, the flag leaves should be clipped by one-half or
two-thirds of their length, one to two days before the initial heading.
However, this practice has the negative effect that it may spread diseases
such as bacterial leaf and sheath blight through the wounds inflicted on
the leaves. Besides, this practice also reduces photosynthetic activity.
Parental lines possessing short and narrow flag leaves do not need to be
clipped.
3. GA3 should be sprayed on parental lines which show poor panicle
exsertion. Spraying begins when 5-10% of the rice plants are at the head-
ing stage, and lasts for 2-4 consecutive days. Spraying should be done on
a calm sunny day, usually in the afternoon. It should not be carried out if
rain is expected within 24 hours. The use of an Ultra Low Volume (ULV)
sprayer has been found to reduce GA3 dosage to 15-20 g ha⫺1, and give
seed yields similar to those from spraying 45-50 g GA3 from a knapsack
sprayer. As GA3 is a costly input, efforts are being made to find some al-
ternate chemicals or substitutes to economize GA3 use. Initial results have
indicated that GA3 requirement can be reduced by using some chemicals
such as ZnSO4, urea and boric acid in combination with lower doses of
GA3.
4. The horizontal dispersal of pollen grains can be increased by shak-
ing the panicles of the pollen parent by pulling a rope manually, or stirring
the canopy layer of the pollen parent with a bamboo stick (supplementary
pollination). This should be done during the anthesis of the pollen parent.
Either of the methods increase outcrossing, and hence seed yields. Care
should be taken that panicles are not broken at the neck.
Roguing. Roguing of off-types should be carried out at maximum
tillering, flowering, and maturity stages, to prevent any cross-pollination
between them and the true-to-type seed and pollen parent plants. Pollen
and seed parents should be harvested, threshed, dried and cleaned sepa-
rately and carefully, to avoid any mechanical mixture of seed of parental
lines.
28 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Fertilizer application. The requirement of nutrients differs with type

of soils. In general, N @ 100-150 kg ha⫺1, phosphorus @ 60 kg P2O5 ha⫺1
and potassium @ 50 kg K2O ha⫺1 is required for seed production. Nitro-
gen should be applied in three splits, ½ basal, ¼ at panicle initiation and
¼ at boot stage.
Disease and insect-pest resistance. In general, the frequency of inci-
dence of stem borer, white backed plant hopper, leaf roller, bacterial
blight, sheath blight, and viral diseases are more on hybrid rice than on
HYVs. Local outbreaks of diseases such as downy mildew, false smut,
and kernel smut occur frequently on hybrid rice. Elite rice hybrids have
been found to possess some resistance to diseases and insect pests and are
given in Table 2.
Success of hybrid rice technology depends on efficient and economic
seed production, which is very vital for its popularization and large-scale
adoption. Unless hybrid seed production on a large scale is economic, it

TABLE 2. Pest and disease resistance of promising rice hybrids (adapted from
DRR, 2001).

Hybrid Stem Gall Leaf WBPH† Blast Sheath Stem BPH‡

borer midge folder rot rot
KMRH-2 å å å
2R1-158 å å å å
3R1-086 å å å å å
HKRH-1002 å å å
KMRH-3 å
MPH å
MTU HR-2020 å å
PA-103 å
PAU-1106-6 å
Proagro-5 å
Proagro-6 å
TNRH-10 å
UPRH-632 å å
VRH-1 å
†White backed plant hopper.
‡Brown plants hopper.
åIndicate a particular variety resistant to respective pest and diseases.
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 29

will not reach large number of farmers. Based on the experimentation on

seed technological aspects during the last 7-8 years in India, a package
has been developed, a summarized version has been given in Table 3.
Seed producers can obtain seed yields of about 1.0 to 1.5 t ha⫺1 by adopt-
ing this package. There is a need to refine present technology so as to
enhance seed yields up to 2.0 to 2.5 t ha⫺1 so that seed cost can be reduced.

Large-Scale Cultivation of Rice Hybrids

Hybrid rice is likely to become popular and adopted in large acreage

during the next decade. The knowledge of the agronomic package is
essential for cultivation of hybrid rice. Several agronomic trials were
conducted to standardize the cultivation package for the rice hybrids.

TABLE 3. Optimum package for hybrid rice seed production and CMS
multiplication.

Activity Particulars
Seed rate Seed Parent: 15 kg ha⫺1
Pollen parent: 5 kg ha⫺1
Nursery Sparse seeding (20 g m⫺2) to ensure multi-tillered (4-5)
seedlings in 25 days
Row ratio 2 B:8 A for CMS multiplication
2 R:10 A for hybrid seed production
Number of seedlings/hill 2 seedlings/hill for seed parent
3 seedlings/hill for pollen parent
Spacing Male:Male = 30 cm
Male:Female = 20 cm
Female:Female = 15 cm
Plant:Plant = 15 cm or 10 cm
GA3 application 60-90 g ha⫺1 in 500 L of water using knapsack sprayer at
5-10% heading in two split doses on consecutive days
Supplementary pollination Four to five times a day at peak anthesis with 30 minutes
interval during flowering phase
Roguing At vegetative phase (based on morphological characters of
leaf and plant type)
At flowering (based on panicle characteristics)
At maturity (based on grain characteristics and percent
seed set)
Seed yield 1.5-2.0 t ha⫺1
30 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

These involved finding out the optimum seed rate, seeding density in the
nursery, number of seedlings hill⫺1, suitable planting dates, planting
geometry and nitrogen requirement, etc. The summarized version of cul-
tivation package developed for rice hybrids is presented in Table 4.
Seed rate. Seed is the costly input in hybrid rice cultivation. Therefore,
efforts have been made to reduce the seed rate without adversely affect-
ing the grain yields. The results revealed that planting of single seedling
hill⫺1 is as good as planting 3-4 seedlings hill⫺1. By planting single seed-
ling hill⫺1 the seed rate could be brought down to 15 kg ha⫺1.
Seeding density. The optimum seeding density in the nursery is found
to be 10-20 g m⫺2.
Number of seedling/hill. Only one healthy seedling is sufficient rather
than planting of 3-4 seedlings hill⫺1 as in case of HYVs.
Spacing. 15 cm ⫻ 15 cm or 20 cm ⫻ 15 cm.
Nutrient requirement. The requirement of nutrients differs with type of
soils. In general, N @ 120-150 kg ha⫺1,phosphorus @ 60 kg P2O5 ha⫺1 and
potassium @ 50 kg K2O ha⫺1 is required. Nitrogen should be applied in
three splits ½ basal, ¼ at panicle initiation and ¼ at boot stage. In case of
high fertile soil, fertilizer scheduling may differ a little bit. The basal appli-
cation of nitrogen can be delayed by a week in such cases. Water should be
drained before top dressing and let in 24 hours later. In areas where top
dressing is not possible due to excess standing water, application of slow
release fertilizer like neem cake or coal tar coated urea is beneficial. The
cyclic submergence is as good as continuous submergence with regard to
time and method of N application. The performance of prilled urea applied

TABLE 4. Package for large-scale cultivation of hybrid rice in India.

Activity Requirement

Seed rate : 15 kg ha⫺1

Seeding density (in nursery) : 10-20 g m⫺2

Spacing : (15 cm ⫻ 15 cm) or (20 cm ⫻ 15 cm)

Seedling hill⫺1 : One

Nitrogen level : 120-150 kg ha⫺1 (based on soil fertility) to be given in

three splits
Phosphorus and potassium : 60:60 kg ha⫺1 Potash to be given in two splits

Plant protection : Need based

 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 31

in two splits or four splits is almost same. Normally phosphorus and pot-
ash are applied as basal. However, potash may also be applied in two
splits to increase its use efficiency. Application of ZnSO4 @ 40 kg ha⫺1
once in every three crop seasons is needed for neutral soils. However,
saline sodic soil requires more Zn. Initial application of ZnSO4 @ 100 kg
ha⫺1 to make allowance for high zinc fixation, followed by normal applica-
tion of zinc sulphate after three crop seasons is a feasible proposition. In
recent years, sulphur deficiency is commonly occurring in continuously
submerged rice areas due to use of high analysis fertilisers. Application of
20 kg sulphur ha⫺1 is found optimum to harvest better produce.
Plant protection. Need-based measures against infestation of insect-
pests and diseases are advocated.

QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF GRAIN

Acceptance of hybrids by consumers is primarily determined by cook-

ing and eating quality. The price, which the farmers get for their produce,
is also determined by quality traits. The hybrids introduced earlier had a
poor grain quality. At present hybrids of better quality are developed by
using the locally developed parental lines and those introduced from
IRRI. In India, hybrids have been evaluated for quality characteristics.
All the released hybrids and the promising pre-released hybrids have
moderately acceptable quality but they cannot be compared with some
high quality varieties such as Samba Mahsuri, White Ponni in southern
India, and Basmati varieties of northern India. Some of the hybrids viz.,
ADTRH-1 and DRRH-1 possess good quality characters (Table 5).
Stickiness. It is the degree to which grains stick together after cooking.
It is influenced by the amount of starch especially amylopectins. In this
study, the amount is expressed in the scale of 1-5. As the amylopectins
content increases, the stickiness increases. Hence, rice grain with vari-
able stickiness value has its own importance from the consumers’ prefer-
ence point of view.
Alkali value. It indicates the ease of cooking. This method involves the
visual observation of the degree of dispersion of grains of milled rice after
immersion in 1.5% or 1.7% KOH overnight. Values are from 2 to 7 and
are determined by comparing the dispersion to that of check samples of
known behavior.
Quality control for seed. Quality control is vital to the widespread
adoption of hybrid rice (He et al., 1987; Mao, 2001). Farmers who buy
expensive hybrid seeds expect high quality. Quality control is carried out
32 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

TABLE 5. Grain quality characteristics of released hybrids and inbred variety

checks.

Hybrid/Variety Grain Milling % Amylose Alkali Tenderness Stickiness Taste (after

type content value on touching (after cooking)
(%) (after cooking)
cooking)
DRRH-1 LS 65.2 24.0 4.2,4.3 4.4 4.3 3.4
CNRH-3 LB 69.3 27.8 3.1,3.8 3.0 4.3 2.7
MGR-1 MS 67.6 31.4 - 3.4 3.7 2.6
CORH MB 60.5 26.3 3.6,4.5 3.6 3.3 2.8
ADTRH-1 LS 70.2 24.7 3.9,4.6 3.7 4.3 2.8
KRH-2 LS 69.0 27.5 2.3,2.6 4.0 2.8 2.6
Sahyadri LS 67.6 26.2 - 4.3 3.2 3.1
PA-6201 LS 69.7 24.0 2.4,3.3 3.4 2.7 2.8
PHB-71 LS 66.0 24.2 2.4,3.3 3.4 4.3 2.8
Jaya LB 71.7 27.5 7.0,7.0 3.8 3.4 2.8
Rasi LB 68.5 30.8 7.0,7.0 3.8 4.5 2.6
Swarnadhan SB 60.6 29.1 7.0,7.0 4.0 4.6 3.2
Samba masuri MS 69.0 23.8 3.0,4.0 4.1 4.5 3.6
Vikas LS 66.5 27.2 6.0,6.0 2.6 1.1 2.0

throughout the whole process of seed production. It includes the nucleus,

breeder, foundation and certified seed production of both parental lines
and F1 hybrids. Seed quality standards are met by intensive roguing of
off-types (from seeding to harvesting) and careful handling during har-
vesting, threshing, drying, cleaning, processing, bagging and labeling.
Some preliminary tests like grow-out tests, germination tests, seed vigor
tests etc. should also be done before the seeds are sold commercially. It is
worthy to mention that China has a well-established hybrid rice seed
industry and national standards for hybrid rice.

RELEVANCE OF HYBRID RICE TECHNOLOGY

TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Hybrid rice technology can contribute to sustainable agriculture

through crop diversification to improve soil health and increasing
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 33

farmers’ income, increasing fertilizer and water use efficiency, and rural
employment.
Crop diversification. In India, crop diversification is generally
viewed as a shift from traditionally grown less remunerative crops to
more remunerative crops. The crops, which are traditionally exported
like basmati rice, need to be supported in terms of area expansion and
quality improvement to look towards much more opportunity for export.
Diversification of cropping systems is necessary to get higher yield and
return, to maintain soil health, and production sustainability. For this,
heavy reliance on cereal crop need to be shifted to other food crops like
potato, vegetables, pulses and oilseeds. Samui et al. (2004) reported that
rice-potato-groundnut system improves soil fertility and also gave high-
est net return. Green manuring of Leucaena leucocephala decreased the
pH of soil from 8.74 to 8.43 and bulk density from 1.7 to 1.5 g cm⫺3 and
enhanced organic carbon by 39.1, nitrogen by 24.1, available P2O5 by
13.4, K2O by 18.4 and infiltration rate by 38.2% under alley cropping
in rice based cropping system. The other prominent post-rice crops in
India are rice, wheat, pulse, oilseed, groundnut and sorghum. Thus, di-
versification of cropping system and green manuring could improve soil
health as well as financial benefits of the farmers.
Fertilizer use efficiency (FUE). Efficient utilization of applied nutri-
ents through fertilizer enhances FUE. The studies indicated that hybrid
rice gave 10-44% higher yield over the popular high yielding varieties
(HYVs) with little or no change in fertilizer input. Luikham et al. (2004)
reported significantly higher grain yield of hybrid ‘ADTRH-1’ with rec-
ommended dose of 150 kg N ha⫺1 applied in 4 splits along with green
manure. This treatment increased the number of panicles, spikelet, filled
grains and grain weight and reduced spikelet sterility. In addition, use
of slow release fertilizers (neem or coal coated urea) and splitting of
potassic fertilizers also improve FUE of hybrid rice.
Water use efficiency (WUE). With the advent of irrigation and new
farm technologies, the yield level of hybrid rice has witnessed an upward
shift making it possible to obtain a higher level of output with reduced
area per unit time. In the hybrid rice (ADTRH-1), the maximum WUE
was achieved when irrigation of 5-cm depth was applied at wider inter-
vals at 3 days after disappearance of ponded water. The effect was more
pronounced when irrigation was combined with 4 split applications of N
plus green manure. The increase in WUE could be attributed to higher
grain yield in this treatment. Moreover, cycling submergence of rice
hybrids can also enhance WUE (Luikham et al., 2004).
34 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Rural employment. Seed industry of hybrid rice is very labor intensive

in terms of cultivation, seed production, packaging, labelling, and tag-
ging of seed of rice hybrids. This has to be regularly done, as there is every
year demand for fresh seed of hybrids for large-scale cultivation.

ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF HYBRID RICE SEED

PRODUCTION

Hybrid seed production requires additional labor for extra farm opera-
tions such as thinning and row planting, supplementary pollination, fill-
ing gaps, roguing, GA3 application, and manual harvesting, threshing
and cleaning. In the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and
West Bengal, on an average, labor accounted for about 48% of the total
cost of hybrid rice seed (Janaiah and Hossain, 2000). Thus, man-days
should be utilized very efficiently to reduce the cost of seed production.
The adoption of hybrid rice technology mainly depends on relative
profitability, market price and the consumers’ acceptability. An eco-
nomic analysis of hybrid rice cultivation has been made by taking into ac-
count different production factors, inputs and manpower used. Their
corresponding costs for hybrid rice production is given in Table 6. Mean
yield advantage of 1.0-1.5 t ha⫺1 is obtained by cultivation of hybrid. The
only incremental cost on account of purchase of hybrid seed is around
Rs. 1000-1200 ($ 22-27) per ha @ Rs. 75 ($ 1.7) per kg. Assuming a
market price of Rs. 5 ($ 0.11) per kg of paddy, an additional income of
Rs. 2500-3500 ($ 55-77) can be expected by cultivation of hybrids. A net
profit of Rs. 25000 ($ 550) per ha can be obtained by taking up hybrid rice
seed production. Besides, it generates additional employment potential
of 100 man-days per hectare.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

1. GA3 application is an important component of hybrid rice seed pro-

duction technology. Its cost is very high in many countries. High seed
yields in China have been achieved with a very high dosage of 150-300 g
ha⫺1. Outside China, it is essential to reduce the cost of GA3, either by
reducing the dosage or by producing cheap GA3 locally. Alternatively,
a cheaper substitute for GA3 needs to be found.
2. The discoloration of hybrid rice seeds caused by a fungi in tropical
areas is an important problem which needs to be tackled. In China and
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 35

TABLE 6. Economics of hybrid seed production (adapted from DRR, 2000).

Input Details Cost unit ⫺1 Cost

(Rs.†) (Rs. ha⫺1)
Land preparation Nursery ⫹ main field 250 hr⫺1 2500
(Tractor-10 hrs)
Seed 15 kg A 125 kg⫺1 1875
5 kg R 15 kg⫺1 75
Raising nursery 30 man days 25 man⫺1 750
Fertilizer (Nursery) 25 kg DAP 9 kg⫺1 225
15 kg Urea 4 kg⫺1 60
15 kg MOP 5 kg⫺1 75
7 kg Castor cake 30 kg⫺1 210
2 kg Zn spray 20 kg⫺1 40
Fertiliser (Main field) 150 kg DAP 9 kg⫺1 1350
200 kg Urea 4 kg⫺1 800
100 kg MOP 5 kg⫺1 500
40 kg Zinc 20 kg⫺1 800
500 kg Org. matter 3 kg⫺1 1500
Transplanting 90 Women 25 Woman⫺1 2250
10 Men 30 Man⫺1 300
Weeding and roguing 80 Women 25 Woman⫺1 2000
Supplementary pollination 30 Women 25 Woman⫺1 750
for 10 days
GA3 application 60 g 30 g⫺1 1800
Labor for GA3 application 10 Men 30 Man⫺1 300
Post flowering roguing 100 Women 25 Woman⫺1 2500
(3-4 times)
Harvesting R line-10 Women 25 Woman⫺1 250
A line-30 Woman 25 Woman⫺1 750
Threshing, winowing, cleaning, 70 Women 25 Woman⫺1 1750
drying, packing and storage
30 Men 30 Man⫺1 900
Cost of bags 50 bags of 70 kg 30 bag⫺1 1500
Miscellaneous 220
Total 26000
Cost of production of 1 kg of F1 seed Rs. 17.33
Receipts 1.5 tons F1 seed 30 kg⫺1 45000
1.5 tons R seed 4 kg⫺1 6000
Total 51000
Net profit 2.5 times higher than ordinary cultivation 25000
†Rs. 45.45 = $1.
36 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

northwestern India, CMS lines in hybrid rice seed production plots have
been found to have a higher incidence of seed-borne diseases (such as
paddy bunt, caused by Neovassia horinda, and Tak and False Smut
caused by Ustilogonoids virens) compared to the pollen parents. This can
cause a serious outbreak of these diseases in commercial crops of hybrid
rice, and therefore needs more attention.
3. A mechanized hybrid rice seed production system has been devel-
oped in the United States (Andrews, 2001). Such a system in Asia might
use several strategies, such as use of facultative female sterility, incorpo-
rating a gene for herbicide susceptibility in the pollen parent, use of
highly heritable differences in grain width (at least 0.7 mm) in seed and
pollen parents for mixed planting and mechanized harvesting, and incor-
poration of a phenol reaction (Ph) gene into the pollen parent (Maruyama
and Oono, 1983; Maruyama et al., 1991; Virmani and Maruyama, 1991).
4. Refinement and transfer of technology for rice hybrids is highly
needed. A good beginning has been made by ushering in an era of hybrid
rice in the country. Development of heterotic hybrids by the researchers,
large-scale production of hybrid seeds by various seed agencies and
transfer of this technology to the end users by the extension agencies must
go hand in hand to have the real impact of this technology in the Indian ag-
riculture (Virmani, 1994b). Though the hybrid rice technology has been
introduced to Indian agriculture, the large-scale adoption of this technol-
ogy, would depend on the economic attractiveness of this technology.
Rice hybrids with still higher magnitude of heterosis coupled with better
cooking eating quality and possessing resistance to major pests and
diseases need to be developed.
5. Vegetative propagation of rice is well known. Adult plants can be
raised from seedlings, tillers, culm cuttings, or by ratooning. Clonal
propagation of rice was proposed in early sixties to exploit hybrid vigor in
rice. However, no serious attempt was made to develop this as a technol-
ogy. Since the commercialization of hybrid rice technology in China in
1976, agronomists and farmers have tried using vegetative propagation
in various ways to reduce the seed rate, and hence the seed cost of com-
mercial rice hybrids. These approaches include double transplanting and
ratooning. In double transplanting, hybrid seeds are sown densely in the
seed bed. When the seedlings reach the 2-3 leaf stage, they are trans-
planted into a field nursery, using a wide spacing of 33 cm ⫻ 10 cm to
induce more tillering. After 25-30 days, tillers are separated and trans-
planted into the main rice field. Although double transplanting can re-
duce the seed rate of hybrid rice significantly, it does increase the labor
cost. Ratooning of hybrid rice has been tried with varying degrees of
 Research, Reviews, Practices, Policy and Technology 37

success. Recently, successful vegetative propagation of rice has been

achieved by splitting and transplanting the ratoon seedlings of an F1 rice
hybrid in Bangladesh. This approach would be practical with resource
poor farmers who can use family labor but who cannot afford the full cost
of hybrid seed.
6. The commonly used female parent of the released hybrids is
IR58025A. This line has long slender grains with slight aroma and hence
hybrids developed by using this line are medium slender to long slender
and they too have mild aroma. Therefore, efforts are underway to identify
alternate commercially useable CMS lines. Development of basmati
hybrids is taken up at New Delhi, Kapurthala, Karnal and Pantnagar cen-
tres. In the multi-location evaluation over three year period, Basmati hy-
brid Pusa RH-10 has recorded a yield advantage of 926-1600 kg ha⫺1
over the yield of Pusa Basmati, a high yielding basmati inbred variety.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

To sustain the food production in coming decades, the rice production

level needs to be increased every year by at least 2 million tons. This tar-
get may be achieved through cultivation of hybrid rice, and it is possible
to bridge the gap between projected demand and the current level of pro-
duction. The first important step towards cultivation of hybrid rice is its
seed production. Thus, sufficient back up of knowledge for production of
good quality seeds should be disseminated to growers. The practices like
maintenance of appropriate isolation distance, rate and timing of seeding
of parentlines, maintenance of optimum ratio of seed parent to pollen
parent, suitable cultural management including removal of weeds, con-
trolling of insect-pest and diseases and GA3 application, rouging of off-
types, fertilizer application, etc., should be followed for seed production.
Similarly for large-scale production of hybrid rice, proper agronomic
practices viz. optimum seed rate, seeding density in the nursery, number
of seedlings hill⫺1, planting geometry, nutrient management and need
based plant protection measures, etc., should be followed. As the man-day
requirement is more than HYVs, it should be managed efficiently.
For countries lacking suitable seed industry infrastructure, a self-
sustaining seed production system can be tried, so that farmers can pro-
duce hybrid seeds for their own use rather than for sale to others (Virmani
et al., 1993). Seed production technology has to be further refined to ob-
tain average seed yields of 2.0 t ha⫺1 on a large scale, so that the cost of
hybrid rice seed can be reduced to Rs. 60-70 ($ 1.3-1.5) kg⫺1. Top priority
38 JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

has to be given to maintain the purity of parental lines and to produce high
quality hybrid seed. Involvement of seed agencies in the public sector,
non government organizations and farmers cooperatives along with the
private seed sectors will be crucial to meet the increased demand for
hybrid seed in the years to come.
Transfer of hybrid rice technology from the research farms to the farm-
ers’ field is as important as developing the hybrids. Extension agencies
have to play a greater role in creating awareness among farmers about the
advantages of cultivating hybrid rice by various innovative techniques.
Separate breeding program have to be initiated to develop hybrids of
very high quality. With the availability of large number of CMS lines and
the pollen parents, it would be possible to develop hybrids with desired
quality characters.
Policy decisions of providing subsidy to meet the higher seed cost and
giving minimum support price for rice hybrids in the initial 5-6 years
would be very helpful to bring more area under hybrid rice in the next de-
cade. Despite the few minor problems faced in the initial stages, timely
and favorable decisions by the policy makers and active involvement of
researchers, seed producers, and the extension workers would certainly
lead to a successful hybrid rice cultivation in India during coming
decades.

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REVISED: 12/03/04
ACCEPTED: 01/20/05

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