Role of Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS) and Sensory Evaluation for Lowland Rice Improvement in Bihar

Abstract

Study on participatory varietal selection (PVS which provided opportunities for male and
female farmers’ to express their preference for rice varieties at the early stages of the breeding
process and Sensory evaluation which provided opportunity to taste the cooked rice and show their
preferences. were conducted at ARI, Mithapur, Patna. Forty three farmers participated in the
preference analysis and selected RAU 759-5-41 followed by RAU 729-12-44 for having features like
semi-tall plant, good tillers, long panicle medium bold grains, shinning of grains, white kernel, stiff
stem, no lodging and suitable for low land and expecting good yield and good market price etc. The
correlation between male and female farmers’ preference scores were strong. The result of sensory
evaluation where ninety six farmers participated showed Swarna Sub-1 as rank first followed by
RAU 759-5-41 and Swarna.