Rice Genomics and Genetics 2024, Vol.15, No.3, 142-152 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/rgg 147 The study found that in Swarna/Chittimuthyalu and IR64/Chittimuthyalu recombinant inbred lines (RILs), there was a significant negative correlation (P<0.001) between yield per plant and zinc content, but not in MTU1010/Suraksha and MTU1010/Jalpriya populations. This correlation was found (Figure 1). In general, lines with the highest zinc content produced lower yields and vice versa. Although most studies reported a negative relationship between grain zinc content and yield, a few reported positive results. The dilution effect of nutrient concentration in plant tissues as dry matter increases is commonly observed in cereals, explaining the inverse relationship between zinc content and yield (Figure 1) (Sanjeeva Rao et al., 2020). Figure 1 Correlation between zinc content in brown rice and single plant yield (SPY) in RILs (Adopted from Sanjeeva Rao et al., 2020) Image caption: The figure shows the correlation analysis between zinc content in brown rice and single plant yield (SPY) in four mapping populations: MS (MTU1010/Suraksha), MJ (MTU1010/Jalpriya), IC (IR64/Chittimuthyalu), and SC (Swarna/Chittimuthyalu). The correlation coefficients and their significance levels are indicated by asterisks, where *, **, and *** represent significance at the 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001 levels, respectively. The overall trend shows significant negative correlations between zinc content and single plant yield in certain populations, particularly in the IR64/Chittimuthyalu and Swarna/Chittimuthyalu populations (Adopted from Sanjeeva Rao et al., 2020) Although negative correlations were observed when performing association studies on the entire mapping population, individual high-producing and zinc-rich recombinants were also found. In addition to high zinc content, biofortified rice varieties should also have comparable yields to existing cultivars. Currently in India, there is no special price for biofortified rice grains, so farmers have no incentive to grow these varieties. Therefore, farmers are likely to accept biofortified varieties only if their yields are comparable to existing popular cultivars. Cooking quality is also an important factor in rice variety release and adoption (Figure 1) (Sanjeeva Rao et al.,
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