Productivity of Hybrid and Inbred Rice Lines Managed Under Transplanted and Direct Seeding Conditions at Makurdi, Nigeria.

This study was aimed at comparing the productivity of some lowland hybrids with that of released inbred varieties of rice in Makurdi, Nigeria. The experiment consist 4 hybrid lines and 3 commercially released inbred rice varieties. This was laid out in a 2x7 factorial arrangement in RCBD at the Research Farm of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi in 2011 and 2012 rainy seasons with three replications under transplanted and direct seeding conditions. Results indicated that highly significant difference in variety was observed for most of the traits studied (days to heading, plant height, tillers number, panicle length, number of panicle branches, number of seeds/panicle, and 1000 seed weight and grain yield) while significant difference on days to heading, plant height, tillers number, panicle weight and grain yield were for sowing methods. The highest grain yield of 6.32 t/ha 5.99 t/ha and 5.57 t/ha were obtained from for three hybrids PAC 837, INDAM 200-002 and JKR1220 respectively. FARO 57 had the least yield of 3.16 t/ha. Transplanting method gave highest yield of 6.68 t/ha while direct seeding method yielded 3.45 t/ha. The Hybrid rice line has shown potential in raising rice productivity in Nigeria and should therefore be evaluated along with the best performing inbred variety (FARO 44) across the fadama lowland ecologies of the Southern Guinea Savanna ecology of Nigeria. Two hybrids, namely INDAM 200-002 and PAC 807, were also among the three highest yielding varieties in the direct seeded condition and should be selected for subsequent evaluation along with the highest yielding inbred line (FARO 52) for this method of production in more locations within the Southern Guinea Savanna ecology of Nigeria.