Fingerprinting And Relating Juvenile Characters Of Rice To Yield And Yield Components In Kiambu And Kirinyaga Counties

ABSTRACT

Rice is increasing as an important food and cash crop in Kenya and is third to maize and wheat in terms of consumption. Consumption has continually outstripped production resulting in massive importation. The main problem affecting productivity involves lack of proper information on best storage time, use of poor quality seed, varietal admixtures which has contributed to low yields. There is need to characterize genotypes. Microsatellit are useful in various plant genetic studies and plant characrerization. Accelerated aging is considered an excellent option as a vigor test due to shortest time of acquisition and efficient results. In the proposed study, seed quality experiments including germination, dormancy, purity, were carried out in the laboratory using eight rice varieties in a Completely Randomized Design. Accelerated ageing tests at 0,24,48 and 72hrs(45oC and 98%RH) were carried out JKUAT post-harvest laboratory using eight rice varieties‟ in four replications of100 seeds each. Data was collected on dates to plumule and radical emergence and height. Five varieties were used to produce seeds which were stored for 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 months respectively. The seedlings were transplanted into fields in a Randomized Complete Block Design using 5*6 factorial arrangement. The study also determined the relationship between juvenile characters and adult characters of rice in Kiambu and Kirinyaga counties. All the data were analyzed using GENSTAT statistical package. ANOVA and LSD at 5% significant level. Seed quality results showed that There was significant variation in both coleorrhiza and coleoptile formation among rice varieties (p