"Tachisugata", a new rice cultivar for whole crop silage use

Rice cultivar "Tachisugata" for whole crop silage ( WCS ) was developed from a cross between "Kanto PL12" and "Takanari". The cross was carried out in 1999 to develop lodging- tolerant, high above ground (whole crop) weight cultivars. A promising line was named as "Kanto-shi 225" and distributed for yield performance tests in 2005. The superiority of "Kanto-shi 225" was confi rmed in the performance tests, and an application was made to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for offi cial registration as "Tachisugata" in 2008. "Tachisugata" belongs to a moderate maturation group. Its heading date, yellow- ripe stage and ripening stage were 5 days earlier, similar, and 8 days later than those of "Nipponbare", respectively. "Tachisugata" had long, thick culms, fewer panicles, and belongs to a group of panicle weight type cultivars. Its grain yield was inferior to that of a high yielding cultivar, "Takanari", but its whole crop yield and total digestible nutrients (TDN) of above ground parts were superior to that of "Takanari". The resistance to lodging was "strong" and it adapted well to direct sowing cultivation. Its resistance gene to blast was estimated to be Pib, but its level of field resistance remains unknown. The resistance to bacterial leaf blight was "moderate" and the reaction of rice stripe was "resistant". Furthermore, preharvest sprouting tolerance is "high". Because of its superior productivity and stability, "Tachisugata" is expected to play an important role in whole crop rice cultivation in Japan. Abstract