NERICA rices are interspecific inbred progeny derived from crosses between 4% (1,508 cM), while the observed average proportion of O. glaberrima donor genome was 6.3% (108 cM). Non-parental alleles were detected in 83% of the lines and contributed an average of 38 cM per line (~2.2% of genomic DNA). Lines that had undergone eight generations of inbreeding in the field contained significantly more non-parental alleles (av. 2.7%) compared to the DH lines (av. 1.3%) that were developed from BC 2 anthers. Using both cluster and principal component analyses, two major groups were detected in these materials. The NERICA varieties (NERICA 1 to 7) clustered in one group while the remaining 63 lines clustered in another group, suggesting that the second group may offer significant opportunities for further selection and variety development.