A comparative study of physical grain quality of saline tolerant, improved and imported rice varieties in The Gambia

Rice is the main staple food for The Gambia. The country is conducive for adequate rice production, yet produces only 19% of the estimated 275, 000 MT need. The impacts of climate change such as flooding, salt intrusion and poor landscape design limit the availability of rice fields for production. This study compares the grain quality of six newly Improved rice salinity tolerant varieties (ISTV), nine improved local varieties, and seven imported rice trade brands. Physical parameters such as grain size and shape, thousand grain weight, chalkiness, and grain color were evaluated. The highest mean of 1000 grain weight was recorded in ISTV followed by the local improved varieties then imported rice with 23.25, 18.79, 13.01 g, respectively. Variety A, Basmati, and Sahel 177 were the only long slender varieties. All the new ISTV and the local varieties are creamy-white scoring from 8.0 to 10.5 including Barabara. All imported rice recorded 100%, broken except American Rice 94.25%. This study aims to provide basic information for design of postharvest equipment such as miller, processors, dryers, separators and graders to facilitate and encourage investments in large scale commercial rice production and direct sound decision making on rice importation.   Key words: Rice grain quality, salt tolerant, improved varieties, rice dimension.