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When Khao Dawk Mali 105 Tolerates Flooding Longer Most Thai native rice in flood-prone fields elongates strongly so its leaves emerge above the water. After the water recedes, these rice plants have long stems and fall over, making harvesting difficult and the yield easily damaged. This kind of flood tolerance is not very desirable to farmers in irrigated areas, but some lines from India can survive submerged under flash floods and hold on until they recover after the water recedes, leading to panicle formation and eventually yield. These have been used as donors of flood tolerance to Khao Dawk Mali 105 to date.
We have improved Khao Dawk Mali to tolerate flooding for up to 21 days. During that time, if the water recedes, the rice plants can recover and form panicles to give yields just as under normal conditions, a hope for Thai farmers in an era when flooding occurs across every region of the country.
Khao Dawk Mali 105 Tolerant of Brown Planthopper
The brown planthopper is an important natural insect enemy that lowers rice yield in both rainfed and irrigated areas. Breeding rice to resist this insect is a top-level goal of rice breeding programs in Thailand and many other Asian countries. Past studies have found at least two genes resistant to the brown planthopper in the variety ABHAYA, located on chromosomes 6 and 12. This information makes it possible to choose molecular markers to assist in selecting resistance correctly, leading to efficient breeding and shortening the time needed to breed rice.
Breeding Khao Dawk Mali 105 for Resistance to Bacterial Leaf Blight
Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) is caused by the pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae It is a disease that damages rice yield greatly and may reduce yield by as much as 80 percent. This disease is usually found spreading in flooded areas or lowlands. Khao Dawk Mali 105 is a good-quality rice but is susceptible to several diseases, notably bacterial leaf blight.
Khao Dawk Mali 105 and Drought Tolerance
The north and northeast are Thailand's important rice-growing regions. Farmers in these areas rely on natural rainfall for cultivation, starting to plant around May and harvesting around November each year. Every year they usually face uncertainty in rainfall amount and distribution, so flooding and drought occur regularly. Drought can occur at any stage of cultivation: early, mid or late in the season, or in a severe drought year both early and late in the planting season. Drought occurring while rice is heading greatly lowers yield, and in a severe drought year farmers may get no rice yield at all. It is therefore necessary to breed Khao Dawk Mali so it can grow and yield even under drought conditions.
