Received: 21 Apr 2020 Accepted: 06 Aug 2020 Revised: 28 Jul 2020 https://doi.org/10.37992/2020.1104.179 Vol 11(4):1106-1115 1106 Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding Research Article Heterosis for yield and grain quality parameters in basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) Aarti Sharma and H. K. Jaiswal Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, IAS, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005 (U P), India *E-Mail: aartisharma4564@gmail.com Abstract In the present study, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis were estimated on 36 F 1 s obtained through half-diallel mating design for yield and quality traits. For yield per plant trait, seven out of 36 hybrids recorded standard heterosis of more than 100 per cent. CSR-30 x HUBR10-9 (160.09 per cent) recorded the highest signifcant positive standard heterosis over yield check Pusa Basmati-1. For quality traits, hybrid Pusa Basmati-1121 X Pusa Basmati-1509 performed well, as it exhibited a signifcant desirable standard heterosis for kernel length, kernel length after cooking, kernel breadth after cooking, and length/breadth ratio. Other hybrids that performed well for quality traits were Pusa Basmati-1 X Pusa Basmati-1121, Type-3 X Pusa Basmati-1121, Type-3 X Pusa Basmati-1509 and Taraori Basmati X Pusa Basmati-1121. 17 hybrids were found to have the desired intermediate range of amylose content (20-25 per cent) and 22 hybrids showed a desirable range of 4-7 for alkali spreading value, based on per se performance. Key words Half-diallel, heterobeltiosis, standard heterosis, basmati INTRODUCTION Rice is the third highest produced cereal in the world and it is staple food to more than half of the world population. Rice is divided into aromatic and non-aromatic rice based on the presence of aroma. Basmati is a type of aromatic rice, which is cultivated in north-western region of India. The various quality traits of basmati rice viz., kernel length, kernel breadth, aroma, fufy texture of cooked rice, high volume expansion during cooking, maximum linear kernel elongation with minimum breadth-wise swelling, palatability, easy digestibility and longer shelf-life (Singh et al. 1988) make it unique and class apart from other rice. It is the major agricultural export commodity of India and has an outstanding demand in national as well as international market. In year 2018-19, India earned a foreign exchange of 4,722.52 million US dollars by exporting 4414584.16 MT of basmati rice (APEDA 2018-19). The prime objective of basmati breeding program is to increase the yield without compromising on the minimum eligibility criteria of variety to be notifed as basmati variety. Traditional basmati varieties are tall, disease susceptible, give poor yield and possess less genetic variability (Siddiq et al. 2012). Exploitation of heterosis is practiced in crop improvement program which is a phenomenon where F 1 outperforms its either parents in the desired direction for any given trait. Nature and magnitude of heterosis shown by the F 1 can assist in predicting the potential of a hybrid. In cognizance of the above facts, a study was undertaken, by crossing nine basmati parents, employing half diallel mating design. 36 F 1 s obtained from the crossing program were examined for 18 traits to study heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Farm, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh under irrigated conditions in Kharif 2016 and Kharif 2017. The experimental material included nine basmati rice varieties namely, Type-3 (T-3), Basmati-370 (B-370), Taraori Basmati (TB), and Ranbir Basmati (RB) which are traditional basmati vartities; Pusa Basmati-1 (PB-1), CSR-30, Pusa Basmati-1121 (PB-1121),