Field Rapid Generation Advance: An Effective Technique for Industrial Scale Rice Breeding Program

Conventional varietal development process takes around 10-12 years to develop new rice varieties. However a breeding program has longer breeding cycle for developing variety then farmers will not get early benefit from the new variety. There are several methods in rice breeding. This paper aimed to overview the BRRI developed Field Rapid Generation Advance (FRGA) technique. The pedigree method of breeding was used by BRRI since its inception in 1970. But scientists of modern era need quicker and efficient methods compared to the previous. A transformation in the breeding system is required. Now a day, single seed descent (SSD) method along with FRGA was applied for this purpose. Previously, rice breeders applied RGA technique in the greenhouse and also in trays but not in the field. In the greenhouse, accommodation of large number of crosses with bigger population is troublesome in terms of cost effectiveness, nutrient and pest management. Therefore, greenhouse RGA is not suitable for industrial scale variety development program. A rapid but low cost technique with easier nutrient and pest management is now a long felt demand of the modern breeders. BRRI has developed raised/ flat bed based FRGA technique for managing bigger breeding population (3000-4000 progenies per cross) and rapid cycle breeding which is different from IRRI FRGA system. BRRI has tested the BRRI developed FRGA system and breeders are effectively applying this FRGA technique for industrial scale variety development program.