'Kuthiru', a landrace of indica rice (Oryza sativa L.), suitable donor parent for organic variety development

Abstract

As organic agriculture is gaining societal, political and scientific recognition for its contribution to sustainable agriculture, breeding varieties for organic farming with effective resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses and having favourable cooking and nutritive qualities is imperative. Here we report a land race, 'Kuthiru' of indica
rice (Oryza sativa) having multiple traits of salinity tolerance, resistance to biotic stresses namely, bacterial blight and sheath blight diseases, and gall midge and leaf folder pests, and having promising cooking and nutritive qualities. This has been cultivated exclusively in a saline prone naturally organic rice production
tract of Kerala, India called, Kaipad.