High Grain Quality Mid-late Maturing Rice Cultivar ‘Yechan’ with Lodging Tolerance and Multiple Disease Resistance

Abstract

Yechan' is a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with lodging tolerance and multiple disease resistance. It was a derived from a cross between 'Hopum' and 'Iksan537' (cultivar name 'Haepum'). 'Hopum' is a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with strong lodging tolerance and 'Haepum' is a high grain quality medium maturing rice cultivar with multiple disease resistance. To shorten the breeding period, another culture method was applied to the F1 plants. 'Yechan' was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests, with a high selection pressure for grain quality, lodging, and disease resistance. The heading date of 'Yechan' was August 14, one day later than that of 'Nampyeong'. 'Yechan' is a cultivar tolerant to lodging and it has short culms. It has multiple disease resistance against rice blast, rice stripe virus, and bacterial blight, including the K3a race, the most virulent race in Korea. The yield of 'Yechan' was similar to that of 'Nampyeong'. 'Yechan' showed excellent grain appearance, superior taste when cooked, and enhanced milling performance; thus, we concluded that it could contribute to the improvement of Korean japonica rice cultivar quality. 'Yechan', a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with lodging tolerance and multiple disease resistance, would be suitable for cultivation in the southern plain area in Korea and has been utilized in the breeding programs aimed at enhancing the grain quality and stability for the cultivation of Korean japonica rice (Registration No. 7647).