Phenotypic characterization of indigenous rice (Oryza sativa L.) germplasm collected from the state of Nagaland, India

Nagaland is one of the eight states in the north-eastern region of India, where a considerable diversity exists in cultivated rice. Recent exploration in this tribal-dominated state has resulted in a collection of 130 rice accessions growing under diverse agroecological conditions. The agromorphological characterization data of 124 rice landraces revealed a significant variability in plant architecture and grain morphological and quality traits. Multivariate analyses including principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis were performed to assess the patterns of morphological variation. The PCA extracted 12 components, which explained 75.4% of the total variation for 38 quantitative and qualitative traits. The cluster analysis grouped 124 rice landraces into five clusters, and the number of landraces in each cluster ranged from 1 to 59. The correlations among the traits are discussed, which will be useful in considering traits for genetic improvement in grain yield and quality. The landraces have been conserved in the national genebank for further utilization.