~ 1972 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2019; 8(1): 1972-1975 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2019; 8(1): 1972-1975 Received: 11-11-2018 Accepted: 16-12-2018 Shilpa Singh Department of Biochemistry, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendra Nagar Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Ankita Sagar Department of Biochemistry, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendra Nagar Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Chetna Gangwar Department of Biochemistry, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendra Nagar Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India RP Singh Department of Biochemistry, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendra Nagar Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Correspondence Shilpa Singh Department of Biochemistry, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendra Nagar Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India An analysis of some selected physical characteristics of different varieties of hybrid rice in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India Shilpa Singh, Ankita Sagar, Chetna Gangwar and RP Singh Abstract The experiment was carried out at the Department of Biochemistry of Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendra Nagar (Kumarganj), Faizabad as a part of Ph.D. work. The seven varieties of hybrid rice namely- Dhani, US-312, 6201, 6302, 6444, JK-401, PHB-71 and 3 check varieties namely-Swarna, Sambhamah and Pusa Basmati were purchased from local market at Kumarganj, Faizabad from year 2012 to- 14. The results indicated that, the hybrid rice variety 6444 was recorded highly superior over Pusa Basmati and Sambhamah with highest germination (96.5%) followed by (95.5%) in PHB-71.The variety Dhani of hybrid rice was found as short bold type and PHB-71 short slender. The all check varieties observed as long slender type and rest found medium. The kernel length was recorded maximum in Pusa Basmati (7.90 mm) followed by Sambhamah (7.41 mm) and 6444 (6.86 mm) and found significantly superior among all the varieties and highly superior over 6302.The kernel breadth was found maximum in PHB-71 (2.16 mm) followed by Swarna (2.14mm), JK-401 and Dhani (2.13 mm) was significantly superior among all the varieties and highly superior over 6302. The L/B ratio was recorded highest in Pusa Basmati (4.40) followed by 6444 (3.81) and found highly superior over JK-401. The test weight was recorded maximum in Pusa Basmati (24.61 g) followed by 6444 (23.86 g) and was significantly superior among all the varieties and highly superior over US-312 and 6302. Keywords: Hybrid rice, germination, kernel length, kernel breadth, length to breadth ratio, test weight Introduction India has a long history of rice cultivation. Globally, it stands first in rice area and second in rice production, after China. It contributes 21.5 per cent of global rice production. Within the country, rice occupies one-quarter of the total cropped area, contributes about 40 to 43 per cent of total food grain production and continues to play a vital role in the national food and livelihood security system. India is one of the leading exporters of rice, particularly basmati rice. It is cultivated in all the continents except Antarctica, Tropical and sub-tropical regions between 550N and 360S in a variety of ecosystem ranging from favorable irrigated to rain fed upland and lowlands flash flooded and deep water areas. The projected demand for rice can only be met by maintaining steady increase in production over the years. Several breeding strategies are being employed in increasing the yield potential of rice and those among the available strategies; hybrid rice offers an immediate opportunity to break the yield plateau set by the semi-dwarf rice varieties after the first green revolution. In the recent years, much emphasis is given for the cultivation of hybrid varieties. Hybrid rice technology has proved to be one of the most feasible and readily adoptable approaches to break the yield barrier, as they produced about 15-20 per cent more than the best of the improved or high yielding varieties. Being convinced of the potential of hybrid rice technology in enhancing the production, India adopted this technique and has released nearly more than forty-three hybrids for commercial cultivation. Hybrid technology has been widely acclaimed and accepted. Hybrid rice is the commercial rice crop from F1 seeds of cross between two genetically dissimilar parents. Good rice hybrids have potential of yielding 15-20 per cent more than the best inbred variety grown under similar conditions (Nguyen van Suan, 1998) [6] . Hybrid rice was introduced commercially in China in 1976. It has been proved practically for many years that hybrid rice has more than 20% yield advantage over improved inbred varieties. The nationwide average yield of hybrid rice is 7t ha-1, about 1.4 t ha-1 higher than that of inbred commercialized hybrid rice (Yuan, 2004). Because of planting hybrid rice on large scale commercial production, China and Vietnam becomes the first and second largest rice export countries in Asia. Besides, many other countries, such as the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Equador, Guineas and the USA have also achieved great progress in extending hybrid rice technology.