SpeedyPaddy: a revolutionized cost-effective protocol for large scale offseason advancement of rice germplasm.

Abstract

Background: Improving the rate of genetic gain of cereal crop will rely on the accelerated crop breeding pipelines to allow rapid delivery of improved crop varieties. The laborious, time-consuming traditional breeding cycle, and the seasonal variations are the key factor restricting the breeder to develop new varieties. To address these issues, a revolutionized cost-effective speed breeding protocol for large-scale rice germplasm advancement is presented in the present study. The protocol emphasises on optimizing potting material, balancing the double-edged sword of limited nutritional dose, mode and stage of application, plant density, temperature, humidity, light spectrum, intensity, photoperiod, and hormonal regulation to accelerate rice growth and development.

Results: The plant density of 700 plants/m², cost-effective halogen tubes (B:G:R:FR-7.0:27.6:65.4:89.2) with an intensity of ∼ 750-800 µmol/m²/s and photoperiod of 13 h light and 11 h dark during seedling and vegetative stage and 8 h light and 16 h dark during reproductive stage had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on reducing the mean plant height, tillering, and inducing early flowering. Our results confirmed that one generation can be achieved within 68-75 days using the cost-effective SpeedyPaddy protocol resulting in 4-5 generations per year across different duration of rice varieties. The other applications include hybridization, trait-based phenotyping, and mapping of QTL/genes. The estimated cost to run one breeding cycle with plant capacity of 15,680 plants in SpeedyPaddy was $2941 including one-time miscellaneous cost which is much lower than the advanced controlled environment speed breeding facilities.

Conclusion: The protocol offers a promising cost-effective solution with average saving of 2.0 to 2.6 months per breeding cycle with an integration of genomics-assisted selection, trait-based phenotyping, mapping of QTL/genes, marker development may accelerate the varietal development and release. This outstanding cost-effective break-through marks a significant leap in rice breeding addressing climate change and food security.