Browsing by Author "S.B. Verulkar"

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Depth of soil compaction predominantly affects rice yield reduction by reproductive-stage drought at varietal screening sites in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal
(Springer International Publishing, 2017) Suresh Prasad Singh; Abhinav Jain; M.S. Anantha; Santosh Tripathi; Subarna Sharma; Santosh Kumar; Archana Prasad; Bhawana Sharma; Biswajit Karmakar; Rudra Bhattarai; Sankar Prasad Das; Shravan K. Singh; Vinay Shenoy; R. Chandra Babu; S. Robin; Padmini Swain; J.L. Dwivedi; Ram Baran Yadaw; Nimai P. Mandal; T. Ram; Krishna Kumar Mishra; S.B. Verulkar; Tamal Aditya; Krishna Prasad; Puvvada Perraju; Ram Krishna Mahato; Sheetal Sharma; K. Anitha Raman; Arvind Kumar; Amelia Henry
Aims: Drought is the major constraint to rainfed rice productivity in South Asia, but few reports provide detailed characterization of the soil properties related to drought stress severity in the region. The aim of the study was to provide a compilation of drought breeding network sites and their respective levels of drought stress, and to relate soil parameters with yield reduction by drought. Methods: This study characterized levels of drought stress and soil nutrient and physical properties at 18 geographically distributed research station sites involved in rice varietal screening in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, as well as at farmers’ fields located near the research stations. Results: Based on soil resistance to penetration profiles, a hardpan was surprisingly absent at about half of the sites characterized. Significant relationships of depth of compaction and yield reduction by drought indicated the effects of soil puddling on susceptibility to cracking, rather than water retention by hardpans, on plant water availability in this region. The main difference between research stations and nearby farmers’ fields was in terms of soil compaction. Conclusions: These results present an initiative for understanding the range of severities of reproductive-stage drought stress in drought-prone rainfed lowland rice-growing areas in South Asia. © 2017, The Author(s).
Genetic gain for rice yield in rainfed environments in India
(Elsevier B.V., 2021) Arvind Kumar; Anitha Raman; Shailesh Yadav; S.B. Verulkar; N.P. Mandal; O.N. Singh; P. Swain; T. Ram; Jyothi Badri; J.L. Dwivedi; S.P. Das; S.K. Singh; S.P. Singh; Santosh Kumar; Abhinav Jain; R. Chandrababu; S. Robin; H.E. Shashidhar; S. Hittalmani; P. Satyanarayana; Challa Venkateshwarlu; Janaki Ramayya; Shilpa Naik; Swati Nayak; Manzoor H. Dar; S.M. Hossain; Amelia Henry; H.P. Piepho
The complexity of genotype × environment interactions under drought reduces heritability, which determines the effectiveness of selection for drought tolerance and development of drought tolerant varieties. Genetic progress measured through changes in yield performance over time is important in determining the efficiency of breeding programmes in which test cultivars are replaced each year on the assumption that the new cultivars will surpass the older cultivars. The goal of our study was to determine the annual rate of genetic gain for rice grain yield in a drought-prone rainfed system in a series of multi-environment trials conducted from 2005 to 2014 under the Drought Breeding Network of Indian sites in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Our results show a positive trend in grain yield with an annual genetic yield increase of about 0.68 % under irrigated control, 0.87 % under moderate reproductive stage drought stress and 1.9 % under severe reproductive stage drought stress due to breeding efforts. The study also demonstrates the effectiveness of direct selection for grain yield under both irrigated control as well as managed drought stress screening to improve yield in typical rainfed systems. IRRI's drought breeding programme has exhibited a significant positive trend in genetic gain for grain yield over the years under both drought stress as well as favorable irrigated control conditions. Several drought tolerant varieties released from the programme have outperformed the currently grown varieties under varied conditions in the rainfed environments on farmers’ fields. © 2020 The Authors