Seventy-seven upland rice genotypes including popular cultivars in Nigeria and introduced varieties selected from across rice-growing regions of the world were evaluated under optimal upland ecology. These genotypes were characterised for 10 traits and the quantitative data subjected to Pearson correlation matrix, Principal Component Analysis and cluster analysis to determine the level of diversity and degree of association existing between grain yield and its related component traits. Yield and most related component traits exhibited higher PCV compared to growth parameters. Yield had the highest PCV (41.72%) while all other parameters had low to moderate GCV. Genetic Advance (GA) ranged from 9.88% for plant height at maturity to 41.08% for yield. Anyaoha et al.; IJPSS, 22(5): 1-9, 2018; Article no.IJPSS.40406 2 High heritability estimates were recorded for 1000 grain weight (88.71%), days to 50% flowering (86.67%) and days to 85% maturity (71.98%). Furthermore, grain yield showed significant positive correlation with days to 50% flowering and number of panicles m -2 . Three cluster groups were obtained based on the UPGMA and the first three principal components explained about 64.55% of the total variation among the 10 characters. The PCA results suggests that characters such as grain yield, days to flowering, leaf area and plant height at maturity were the principal discriminatory traits for this rice germplasm indicating that selection in favour of these traits might be effective in this population and environment. Original Research Article

The intermittent and widespread occurrence of drought in rainfed upland rice fields across sub-Sahara Africa has led to tremendous decrease in food security in the region. Although high yielding, drought tolerant varieties have been developed over years to mitigate this trend, limited adoption had been recorded for most of these materials. This study investigated farmers’ perceptions on drought stress and their preferred traits in new upland rice varieties across two major upland rice growing states in Nigeria. Participatory Rural Appraisal was conducted among 119 rice farmers using comparative approach, probing and semi structured interviews. Result based on farmers knowledge of changes in rainfall pattern and preferred traits such as plant architecture and grain shapes in a new upland rice variety differed significantly across the two state. The results identified drought stress as one of the main constraints to upland rice production across communities. The ideal upland rice variety desired by most respondents in both states should be of medium plant height (115-130cm) characterized by white, long and bold grains. This study has demonstrated the importance of understanding farmer’s desired traits in a new upland rice variety and the need to incorporate identified traits in creation of resilient new upland rice varieties adaptable to rain-fed upland rice growing regions of Nigeria.