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The following points highlight the top two types of cereals. The types are: 1. Rice 2. Wheat.
Type # 1. Rice:
Rice, Oryza sativa, the staple food of majority of the Indians, is grown practically all over India.
Cultivation Area:
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The major states of rice cultivation are West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam.
Soil:
Rice grows well in clays or clay-loams. For normal growth of the crop soil pH between 5 to 8.5 is suitable.
Climate:
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Following climatic conditions are suitable for rice cultivation:
Cropping Season:
Depending on the type of rice, cropping season vary:
Rotation:
Rice is grown in rotations with jute, wheat, potato, pulses, oil-seeds, vegetables, etc.
Preparation of Land:
The preparation of land depends upon whether the crop is to be grown under the ‘dry’, ‘semi-dry’ or the ‘wet’ system. In dry-system, the land is ploughed well; weeds and stubbles are collected and burnt; manures are applied well in advance before sowing. In wet-system, the land is irrigated before sowing and then ploughed in standing water. Finally ladder is used to level the field.
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Sowing:
Under dry-system of cultivation improved, pure, viable seeds are sown directly by broadcasting or drilling in lines. For broadcasting, seed rate varies from 80-100 kg/ha and for line sowing from 60-70 kg/ha. In wet-system of cultivation, the crop is generally grown by transplantation. For transplanted crops, the seedlings are raised in nurseries.
Generally 2-3 seedlings of 3-5 weeks age are transplanted in each hill. Normally early varieties are planted 20 cm from line to line and 10-15 cm from plant to plant, while medium and late varieties are planted with 20 cm x 15 cm and 23 cm x 23 cm spacing’s respectively.
The sowing time for different types of rice is as follows:
Manuring:
Chemical fertilizers and organic manures are equally important for rice cultivation. Nitrogen, either in organic or inorganic form, is the best manure for rice. Farmyards manure, compost, oil-cakes, fish manure and green twigs are commonly used in India. 10-15 tonnes of well-rotted farmyard manure/ha is recommended at the time of land preparation.
After-care:
In field, water is allowed to stand a depth of 1.2-2.5 cm until transplanted seedlings are well established. After this, 5 cm of water with frequent draining and re-irrigation is maintained in the field till 1 or 2 weeks before harvesting. Few weeding should be given and soil near roots of plants should be stirred.
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Disease and Control:
Important rice diseases and their controlling measures are as follows:
Pest and control: Important rice pests and their control are:
Harvesting:
The crop is harvested when the ‘ears’ are nearly ripe and the colour of the straw is still slightly green. Crop is cut with sickles, dried in the field for 2-4 days and stacked in the threshing yard.
The harvesting time for different types of rice is as follows:
Threshing:
The crop is then threshed either with sticks or by beating against a wooden log or by treading the entire crop under foot of bullocks or by pedal and power threshers. Finally husk is removed by pounding method or by rice hullers.
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Storage:
Cleaned un-husked paddy is dried and stored in jute bags and granaries.
Yield:
The yield of paddy varies according to the type:
Improvement of Crop through Plant Breeding:
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(a) Introduction of New Varieties:
Many new varieties have been introduced from foreign countries and acclimatized, for example, IR-8, IR-20, Palman 579 – all are from Philippines, Intan from Indonesia, Taichung from China, etc.
(b) Selection from Promising Local Strain:
Sp1 Sp2, Type 1 (selected from Ramjeban of Dehradun), Type A 64 (selected from Hansaraj and Unnao).
(c) Hybridization:
Hybridization between certain good varieties can combine many good qualities of different varieties into one variety. Then selection is done to screen out the best.
(d) Mutation Breeding:
Chemical or physical mutagen application has the potential to get many good promising varieties, e.g., Jagannath (Mutant of T-141), K-84 (Mutant of T-65), Hybrid mutant 95 (Jhona 349 x TN 1), etc.
(e) CMS Line Development for Hybrid Seed Production:
Rice hybridization requires male sterile plants. Five commercial male sterile lines (cytoplasmic) are identified in rice which are being used extensively for hybrid seed production, e.g., Wild rice – wild aborted or WA type, Oryza sativa f. spontanea, Chinsurah Boro II (BT type), Gambiaca (Gam type), Shan-Tao-Bai.
(f) Application of Tissue Culture:
The techniques of tissue culture can help the improvement of the crop in many ways. Specially anther or pollen culture has helped the crop to develop the varieties with higher yield as well as resistance against blast, tungro, leaf blight and also maturity within a very short period. Dihaploids of Indica x Japonica crosses were successfully raised through another culture. Six good strains of rice have been selected from pollen plants of F1 anther culture of hybrid rice variety Shan You No. 2.
(g) Transgenic Rice Plant Development:
Introduction of the foreign gene is another attempt to develop the crop with disease or insect resistance property and good nutritional quality, etc. Rice varieties have been developed by introducing Bt-gene to give the insect resistance property against yellow stem borer. ‘Golden Rice’ variety has been developed which bears the gene for carotene production.
Research Stations:
1. Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack.
2. Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.
3. International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines.
Type # 2. Wheat:
Wheat, Triticum aestivum, is an important staple food extensively cultivated in India.
Cultivation Area:
It is widely cultivated in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan. Indo-Gangetic Plain is the best wheat producing region.
Climate:
The following climatic conditions favour crop growth:
Soil:
Easily irrigable and drainable loamy or clay-loamy soil is suitable for cultivation of wheat.
Rotation:
Wheat is rotated with a kharip crop like jowar, bajra, cotton or with leguminous crop. In West Bengal rice-jute-wheat rotation is generally practiced.
Preparation of Land:
Several ploughings, repeated harrowing in the rainy season followed by 3 or 4 cultivations and planking immediately before sowing produce a good seed bed for un-irrigated crop on alluvial soil. For irrigated crop, the land is irrigated before sowing and number of ploughings is reduced.
Sowing:
Viable and disease resistant seeds are shown by broadcasting, drilling or dibbling at a rate of 75-120 kg/ha. Sowing time is November for medium long duration variety and second fortnight of November for short duration variety.
Irrigation:
For irrigated wheat, first irrigation should be given 20-25 days after sowing. Irrigation at tillering, heading and grain filling stages are essential.
After Care:
Weeding may be done by spraying 2, 4-D or hand weeding is practiced.
Manuring:
The un-irrigated wheat crop is not normally manured although application of well-rotted farmyard manure or compost or oil-cake at the rate of 20-30 quintal/hectare about 6 weeks before sowing is desirable. For the irrigated wheat crop, though actual dose depends upon soil fertility, fertilizer mixture of 60-120 kg/ha N, 30-60 kg/ha P2O5 and 30-60 kg/ha K2O is recommended.
Disease and Control:
Important diseases of wheat and their control are as follows:
Pest and control:
Important wheat pests and their controlling measures are as follows:
Harvesting:
When the grain is dead-ripe and the straw is golden yellow and brittle, harvesting is done. Generally it begins in mid-February and continues till April, depending on variety.
Threshing:
Harvested grains are threshed by treading under the feet of cattle on a threshing floor or by pedal power threshers. Next winnowing is done with winnowing baskets.
Storage:
Thoroughly dried grains should be stored in moisture proof and fumigated store rooms.
Yield:
The yield of un-irrigated crop is about 300-400 kg/ha and the yield under irrigated condition with high yielding varieties followed by correct production technology is 8 tones/ha.
Improvement of Crop through Plant Breeding:
In India the crop improvement in wheat can be divided into three phases:
First Phase:
Development of pure line varieties like NP4, Pb 8, K-13, Bansi, etc.
Second Phase:
Introduction of different characters through hybridization to give varieties like NP 52, C 518, C 519, Niphad, etc.
Third Phase:
Production of disease resistant variety like NP-700, NP-800, etc.
(a) Introduction of New Varieties:
Sonora 64 and Lerma Rojo 64 are the two varieties which have been introduced from Mexico to India as they bear the disease resistance property.
(b) Hybridization with Related Species:
To diversify the genetic basis of Indian “durum” wheat, the interspecific hybridization programme has been taken to introduce genes from five “Triticum” species, namely T. dicoccum, T. carthlicum, T. turgidum, T. timopheevi and T. aestivum for higher yield and disease resistance property. Resistance to several diseases has been incorporated into cultivated wheat from closely related species of Triticum, Aegilops and Agropyron.
There are some varieties which have been developed through selection process after hybridization.
Kalyan Sona → Penjamo 62 Sib x Gabo 55 — Selection from S 227.
Sonalika → II 54-388 x NIOB x Lerma Rojo — Selection from S-308.
(c) Multiline Varieties:
Many lines have been hybridized together to develop the varieties like Bithur, KSML 3 and MLKS 11 and are released. Discovery of Norin-10 (dwarf gene) and its introduction by hybridization has yielded many new varieties.
(d) Mutation Breeding:
Mutagen treatment to any existing good variety may yield with new character, like Sharbati Sonora has been developed from a mutant line of Sonora-64.
(e) Cytosterile Line Development:
The hybridization between T. vulgare x Aegilops caudata and T. durum x Aegilops ovata named as Aegilo-triticum are cytosterile in nature. T. timopheevi is the best cytoplasm which is interactive with Triticum nucleus to give male sterility. 15 different cytoplasm have been recognised which can induce male sterility in common wheat and form the basis of alternative system for hybrid production.
(f) Application of Tissue Culture:
Among different techniques in tissue culture, another culture in wheat has developed more than 20 new varieties and strains in China. Spring wheat Huapei No. 1, winter wheat Jinghua No. 1, Jinghua No. 2 and 3 – all are the good varieties for plant breeding bearing the characters like vigorous tillering, cold resistance, early maturity and good grain quality.
‘Florin’ is the doubled haploid variety developed in France which has been used in breeding to develop the new strain Jingdan 2288 that bear the characters like large spike, plenty of grains, vigorous tillering, stripe rust and powdery mildew resistant and resistance to lodging.
Some Important Hybrid Varieties:
Disease Resistance Varieties:
Research Station:
Indian Agricultural Research Institute; New Delhi.
