‘Amissal’ is a regionally specialized rice cultivar developed to strengthen the competitiveness of local rice and is characterized by its distinct long-grain japonica type. It was bred through a single backcross between ‘Boramchan’—a high-yielding japonica cultivar with excellent cultivation stability used as the recurrent parent—and ‘HR30198-AC33’ (DGS79), a breeding stock with extra-long and spindle-shaped grains used as the donor parent for japonica grain shape diversification. Population and pedigree breeding methods were used during the breeding process. During the selection stage, molecular marker-assisted selection targeting the major grain shape genes, GS3 and qSW5 was applied, enabling the identification of lines carrying the gs3-qSW5 allele combination associated with long grain shape. ‘Amissal’ was developed through yield trials, local adaptability tests, selection trials addressing regional needs, and on-farm research aimed at developing long-grain japonica rice for export. The heading date of ‘Amissal’ was August 17, two days later than that of ‘Nampyeong’. Compared to ‘Nampyeong’, ‘Amissal’ exhibited greater biomass due to longer culms, more spikelets per panicle but fewer panicles per hill, and a heavier 1,000-grain weight. It demonstrated strong resistance to bacterial blight (races K1, K2, and K3) but was susceptible to viral diseases and insect pests. In terms of yield, it outperformed ‘Nampyeong’. The average brown rice grain length was 6.14 mm, classifying it as long-grain type. The length-to-width ratio was 2.43, corresponding to a semi-spindle shape, which clearly distinguishes it from existing Korean japonica cultivars. While its milling recovery rate was similar to that of ‘Nampyeong’, a high proportion of broken rice due to its long grain shape resulted in a lower head rice. ‘Amissal’ had low protein content and provided the sticky and soft texture typical of japonica rice, with excellent scores in sensory evaluation tests. As a differentiated, regionally specialized rice cultivar featuring a long-grain japonica type and superior eating quality, ‘Amissal’ is expected to contribute to the advancement of the local rice industry, particularly through applications in rice export and the utilization of broken rice and rice straw (Registration No. 10167).

‘KM7’, a maize hybrid for grain production, was developed for the Southeast Asian seed market by the maize breeding team of the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), Rural Development Administration (RDA) in 2020. The hybrid, ‘KM7’, was bred by crossing two inbred lines, CL32 and 14K23. After a one-year yield trial in Dong Trieu, Vietnam, country adaptability trials were performed three times in three different countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia) in both 2019 and 2020. The seed type was flint-like and suitable for both food and feed. ‘KM7’ adapted well to conditions in northern Vietnam, northwestern Cambodia, and Central Java in Indonesia. The silking date of ‘KM7’ in Vietnam was 62 d, which was 1 d earler than that of LCH9, a leading cultivar in Vietnam. ‘KM7’ is an early maturing, high-grain yielding F1 hybrid that is also resistant to downy mildew. ‘KM7’ produced a grain yield of 842, 831, and 950 kg/10a in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, respectively. This demonstrated a higher yield than that of the leading cultivars in each respective country. ‘KM7’ produced 26% more grain in Vietnam, 28% more in Cambodia, and 56% more in Indonesia than the respective control varieties (Registration No. 10034).

“Jeongdami” is a specialized rice (Oryza sativa L.) variety developed to enhance the competitiveness of regional branded rice through its distinct characteristics, setting it apart from those from other regions. It is an early-maturing, semi-dwarf variety with strong resistance to rice blast and features intermediate stickiness with a low amylose content (11.6%), using “Wolbaek” as the maternal parent. The paternal parent is an F₁ hybrid created by crossing the large-grain, intermediate-maturity glutinous rice variety “Nunbora,” which is resistant to bacterial blight (K1, K2, and K3), with “Boramchan,” a high-yield, medium-late Japonica variety that is resistant to bacterial blight (K1, K2, and K3) and stripe virus. The breeding process culminated in 2020, resulting in “Jeongdami.”. Key agricultural characteristics include an average heading date of August 15, which is 6 days earlier than “Baekjinju”, an important low amylose mid-late cultivar, making it a medium-late variety when grown in the four plains regions in the central plains of Korea. Its culm length is moderately short at 77 cm, with an average of 16 panicles per hill and 96 spikelets per panicle. The 1,000-grain weight of brown rice is 20.0 g, similar to that of “Baekjinju.” There was no premature heading, leaf senescence at maturity was moderate, and the pre-harvest germination rate was 1.7%, lower than that of “Baekjinju” (7.5%). The overall cold tolerance rating was 7, indicating weak tolerance similar to “Baekjinju;” however, the variety showed strong lodging resistance in the field. “Jeongdami” exhibited strong resistance to bacterial blight (K1, K2, and K3) and moderate resistance to leaf blast but showed susceptibility to stripe virus, brown planthopper, and white-backed planthopper. The average polished rice yield was 547 kg per 10a, a 16% increase compared to that of “Baekjinju” (472 kg). The grain shape, with a paddy grain length-to-width ratio of 2.2 and a brown rice length-to-width ratio of 1.8, was similar to that of “Baekjinju,” maintaining a short and round shape. The endosperm is clearer than that of “Baekjinju,” providing superior visual quality. The protein content was 6.2%, and the amylose content was 11.5%, indicating intermediate stickiness, which was attributed to the Wx-mq gene. Due to its soft texture and stable cultivation, “Jeongdami” will contribute to increasing rice consumption by enhancing the competitiveness of regionally branded rice with its excellent eating quality and cultivation stability. (Grant No. 9168).

The rice cultivar ‘JJ644wx’ was developed to improve disease resistance and lodging tolerance of Korean japonica glutinous rice cultivars. ‘JJ644wx’ was derived from a cross between ‘HR27814-B-47-1-1’ (‘Sinjinbaek’), a multiple disease-resistant mid-late maturing elite line, and ‘HR29676-AC29’, a medium-maturing glutinous line with lodging tolerance. To shorten the breeding period, an anther culture method was applied to F₁ plants. ‘JJ644wx’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests, with high selection pressure for disease resistance and lodging tolerance. The heading date of ‘JJ644wx’ was August 11th, four days later than that of ‘Sinseonchal’. ‘JJ644wx’ exhibited strong tolerance to lodging with a short culm length. The 1,000-grain weight of brown rice of ‘JJ644wx’ was heavier than that of ‘Sinseonchal’, and its yield was 553 kg/10a, which was 10% higher than that of ‘Sinseonchal’. ‘JJ644wx’ had a higher milling performance than ‘Sinseonchal’, but a lower head rice ratio due to a higher percentage of broken rice. ‘JJ644wx’ tended to be situated between ‘Sinseonchal’ and ‘Dongjinchal’ in terms of pasting and texture characteristics. ‘JJ644wx’ is the only Korean japonica glutinous rice cultivar resistant to the most virulent bacterial blight race, K3a; it also showed resistance to rice blast and stripe virus. ‘JJ644wx’ is expected to be a valuable resource that could contribute to improving the cultivation stability of Korean japonica glutinous rice in response to climate change (Registration No. 9606).

‘KM3’ is an F1 hybrid maize developed by the maize breeding team at the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), Rural Development Administration (RDA), for the Southeast Asian seed market. This hybrid was obtained by crossbreeding two inbred lines—14K26 and 15VL027. The hybrid was evaluated in a crop-year yield trial in Cambodia, followed by country adaptability trials in Cambodia and Indonesia in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The flint-like seed type of ‘KM3’ makes it suitable for both food and feed, demonstrating its adaptability to Southeast Asia. ‘KM3’ exhibited early maturity, high grain yield as an F1 hybrid, and resistance to downy mildew. The silking date of ‘KM3’ was two days earlier than that of the leading cultivar ‘CP888’ in Cambodia, with a grain yield of 913 kg/10a, outperforming ‘CP888’ by 26% (Registration No. 9319).

‘KM5,’ a high grain yielding maize hybrid, was developed for the Southeast Asian seed market in 2018 by the maize breeding team of the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), Rural Development Administration (RDA). ‘KM5’ was bred by crossing two inbred lines—14K23 and CL59. After a 1-crop year yield trial in Dong Trieu and Vietnam, country adaptability trials were performed in 2017 and 2018 in three different countries—Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia. The seed type is flint-like and suitable for both food and feed. ‘KM5’ adapted well to northern Vietnam, northwestern Cambodia, and Central Java in Indonesia. It is an early maturing, high grain yield F1 hybrid that is also resistant to downy mildew. The silking date of ‘KM5’ in Vietnam is 74 days, which is the same as that of LCH9—a leading cultivar in Vietnam. ‘KM5’ produced a grain yield of 695, 764, and 678 kg/10a in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, respectively, thus demonstrating a higher yield than the leading cultivar in each country. ‘KM5’ produced 2%, 27%, and 8% more grain than the respective control varieties in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, respectively (Registration No. 8947).

The rice cultivar ‘Namchan’ was developed to achieve high yields under low-nitrogen fertilizer conditions and enhance cultivation stability. ‘Namchan’ was derived from a cross between ‘Nikomaru’, a Japanese rice cultivar known for its excellent ripening ability in high-temperature conditions, and ‘Saenuri’, a Korean mega rice cultivar renowned for its high cultivation stability. To shorten the breeding period, anther culture was applied to F1 plants. ‘Namchan’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests, with high selection pressure for ripening ability and cultivation stability. The heading date of ‘Namchan’ was August 16, four days later than that of ‘Nampyeong’. ‘Namchan’ exhibited strong tolerance to lodging and preharvest sprouting, indicating high cultivation stability. Despite having more grains and panicles compared to that in ‘Nampyeong’, ‘Namchan’ exhibited excellent ripening ability, presumed to be inherited from ‘Nikomaru’. ‘Namchan’ showed intermediate resistance to rice blast and resistance to bacterial blight and rice stripe virus. ‘Namchan’ had excellent grain appearance, improved milling performance, and superior taste compared to ‘Nampyeong’. ‘Namchan’ exhibited a yield of 6.34 MT/ha under normal nitrogen fertilizer conditions, and its index at 115%, when compared to that of ‘Nampyeong’, is the highest among Korean japonica rice varieties. It exhibited a high yield of 5.45 MT/ha even under low-nitrogen fertilizer conditions. ‘Namchan’ is promising as an outstanding cultivar that can contribute to carbon neutrality through the reduction of nitrogen fertilizers and greenhouse gases (Registration No. 8134).

The rice cultivar ‘Chamdongjin’ was developed to enhance the disease resistance of ‘Sindongjin’. ‘Sindongjin’, developed by the RDA in 1999, is a mega-variety with a unique grain size and excellent taste, and has been cultivated in the largest area in Korea since 2018. As ‘Sindongjin’ has been cultivated in a large area recently, problems such as pest damage are increasing, and the necessity to develop alternative cultivars is emerging. Accordingly, the multiple disease-resistant, mid-late maturing rice cultivar ‘Chamdongjin’, carrying the bacterial blight resistance gene Xa21 into the genetic background of ‘Sindongjin’, was developed. ‘Chamdongjin’ was developed by the backcrossing method using the donor parent ‘HR27195-59-3-5-5’, harboring the bacterial blight resistance genes Xa3+Xa21 and the recurrent parent ‘Sindongjin’. ‘Chamdongjin’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests, with a high selection pressure for agronomic trait similarities with ‘Sindongjin’. In order to effectively improve the disease resistance, marker-assisted selection for disease resistance genes and bioassays for bacterial blight, blast, and stripe virus were performed in parallel. ‘Chamdongjin’ was confirmed to have three disease-resistance genes, Xa3+Xa21+Stvb-i. Most of agronomic traits of ‘Chamdongjin’ were similar to ‘Sindongjin’, while ‘Chamdongjin’ showed enhanced disease resistance against bacterial blight and panicle blast compared to ‘Sindongjin’. ‘Chamdongjin’, like ‘Sindongjin’, possessed a grain size-related gene, the gs3 allele, and exhibited larger grains than general Korean japonica cultivars. In addition, ‘Chamdongjin’ showed a similar or higher level of palatability compared to ‘Sindognjin’, indicating the excellent quality characteristics. In the genetic background analysis using 787 KASP markers, ‘Chamdongjin’ showed 96.3% homozygosity with ‘Sindongjin’, indicating that it had a more similar genetic background to ‘Sindongjin’ than to other existing cultivars. ‘Chamgdongjin’ is expected to be widely cultivated as an alternative to ‘Sindongjin’, which could maintain the brand value while preventing the disease damage caused to ‘Sindongjin’ (Registration No. 9310).

‘Jonong’ is an early maturing whole crop silage (WCS) japonica rice cultivar characterized by a short growth duration and numerous spikelets. It was developed to enhance the adaptability of WCS rice to double-cropping systems. ‘Jonong’ is derived from a cross between ‘Binhae Col.#1’ and ‘Deuraechan’; ‘Binhae Col.#1’ is a semi-early maturing China rice germplasm with numerous spikelets on dense panicles, whereas ‘Deuraechan’ is a high-yielding japonica rice cultivar with numerous spikelets on long panicles. To diversify the genetic variation and shorten the breeding period, an anther culture method was applied to the F₁ plants. ‘Jonong’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests, with a high selection pressure for short growth duration and high biomass. The average heading date of ‘Jonong’ was August 1^st, which is 11 days earlier than that of ‘Nokyang’, the standard cultivar for WCS rice. Moreover, the growth duration of ‘Jonong’ is the shortest among all Korean WCS rice cultivars. The culm length of ‘Jonong’ is 88 cm, which 4 cm longer than that of ‘Nokyang’ and the highest among all Korean early maturing rice cultivars. ‘Jonong’ has 149 spikelets per panicle, which is 30 more than that of ‘Nokyang’, and is the highest among all Korean early maturing rice cultivars. ‘Jonong’ exhibits stable premature heading and is tolerant to lodging. It is moderately resistant to leaf blast and resistant to the rice stripe virus. The feed value of ‘Jonong’ in terms of total digestible nutrients is good and comparable to that of ‘Nokyang’. Furthermore, compared with ‘Nokyang’, ‘Jonong’ shows a similar level of dry matter yield and a higher rough rice yield. Therefore, ‘Jonong’, an early maturing WCS japonica rice with short growth duration and numerous spikelets, would be suitable for cultivating in winter forage crop-rice double cropping systems (Registration No. 7274).

‘KM2’, a maize hybrid grain was developed for the Southeast Asian seed market by the maize breeding team of the Rural Development Administration (RDA), South Korea 2018. ‘KM2’ was bred by crossing two inbred lines, ‘15VL065’ and ‘KS155’. After a advanced yield trial at Dong Trieu, Vietnam, for the first cropping cycle in 2016, country adaptability trials were performed twice in three different countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, in 2016 and 2017. ‘KM2’, a yellow intermediate seed for food and feed, adapts well to the northern Vietnam, northwestern Cambodia, and Central Java in Indonesia. It is an early maturing high-grain yield F1 hybrid. This hybrid is resistant to downy mildew, but not corn rust. The silking date of ‘KM2’ is 10 days earlier than that of ‘LVN10’, a leading cultivar in Vietnam. ‘KM2’ produced grain yields of 811 kg/10a, 845 kg/10a, and 783 kg/10a in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, respectively, showing even higher grain yield than the countries’ respective leading cultivar. ‘KM2’ produced 61%, 17%, and 14% higher grain yield in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, respectively, than their respective control cultivars (‘LVN10’, ‘CP888’, ‘P21’) (Registration No. 8192).

‘Yechan’ is a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with lodging tolerance and multiple disease resistance. It was a derived from a cross between ‘Hopum’ and ‘Iksan537’ (cultivar name ‘Haepum’). ‘Hopum’ is a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with strong lodging tolerance and ‘Haepum’ is a high grain quality medium maturing rice cultivar with multiple disease resistance. To shorten the breeding period, another culture method was applied to the F₁ plants. ‘Yechan’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests, with a high selection pressure for grain quality, lodging, and disease resistance. The heading date of ‘Yechan’ was August 14, one day later than that of ‘Nampyeong’. ‘Yechan’ is a cultivar tolerant to lodging and it has short culms. It has multiple disease resistance against rice blast, rice stripe virus, and bacterial blight, including the K3a race, the most virulent race in Korea. The yield of ‘Yechan’ was similar to that of ‘Nampyeong’. ‘Yechan’ showed excellent grain appearance, superior taste when cooked, and enhanced milling performance; thus, we concluded that it could contribute to the improvement of Korean japonica rice cultivar quality. ‘Yechan’, a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with lodging tolerance and multiple disease resistance, would be suitable for cultivation in the southern plain area in Korea and has been utilized in the breeding programs aimed at enhancing the grain quality and stability for the cultivation of Korean japonica rice (Registration No. 7647).

‘Sinjinbaek’ is a bacterial blight (BB)-resistant, mid-late maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality. To diversify the resistance genes and enhance the resistance of Korean rice cultivars against BB, ‘Sinjinbaek’ was developed from a cross between ‘Iksan493’ (cultivar name ‘Jinbaek’) and the F₁ cross between ‘Hopum’ and ‘HR24670-9-2-1’ (‘HR24670’). ‘Jinbaek’ is a BB-resistant cultivar with two BB resistance genes, Xa3 and xa5. ‘Hopum’ is a high grain quality cultivar with the Xa3 resistance gene. ‘HR24670’ is a near-isogenic line that carries the Xa21 gene, a resistance gene inherited from a wild rice species O. longistaminata, in the genetic background of japonica elite rice line ‘Suweon345’. ‘Sinjinbaek’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests. Using bioassay for BB races and DNA markers for resistance genes, three resistance genes, Xa3, xa5, and Xa21, were pyramided in the ‘Sinjinbaek’ cultivar. ‘Sinjinbaek’ exhibited high-level and broad-spectrum resistance against BB, including the K3a race, the most virulent race in Korea. ‘Sinjinbaek’ is a mid-late maturing rice cultivar tolerant to lodging. It has multiple disease resistance against BB, rice blast, and stripe virus. The yield of ‘Sinjinbaek’ was similar to that of ‘Nampyeong’. ‘Sinjinbaek’ showed excellent grain appearance, good taste of cooked rice, and enhanced milling performance, and we concluded that it could contribute to improving the quality of BB-resistant cultivars. ‘Sinjinbaek’ was successfully introgressed with the Xa21 gene without the linkage drag negatively affecting its agronomic characteristics. ‘Sinjinbaek’ improved the resistance of Korean rice cultivars against BB by introgression of a new resistance gene, Xa21, as well as by pyramiding three resistance genes, Xa3, xa5, and Xa21. ‘Sinjinbaek’ would be suitable for the cultivation in BB-prone areas since it has been used in breeding programs for enhancing plants’ resistance to BB (Registration No. 7273).

‘Haepum’ is a bacterial blight-resistant, medium maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality. It was derived from a cross between ‘Iksan493’ (cultivar name ‘Jinbaek’) and the F₁ cross between ‘Iksan495’ (‘Dacheong’) and ‘Iksan496’ (‘Jungmo1005’). Of these three cultivars, ‘Jinbaek’ is a bacterial blight-resistant mid-late maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality, ‘Dacheong’ is a mid-late maturing rice cultivar with multiple resistance to disease and insects, and ‘Jungmo1005’ is a mid-late maturing rice cultivar with lodging tolerance. To develop fixed lines, the anther culture method was applied to F₁ plants. The cultivar ‘Haepum’ was selected using the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests. The heading date of ‘Haepum’ was August 11^th, three days earlier than that of ‘Nampyeong’ cultivar. Haepum’ is a cultivar tolerant to lodging and it has short culms. Due to its low rate of viviparous germination, ‘Haepum’ could be useful for preventing pre-harvest sprouting in cultivation of medium maturing rice in the southern plain area of Korea. ‘Haepum’ carries two bacterial blight resistance genes (Xa3 and xa5), and in our study, it exhibited high-level and broad-spectrum resistance against bacterial blight, including K3a, the most virulent race in Korea. ‘Haepum’ is also resistant to the rice stripe virus and moderately resistant to rice blast. The yield of ‘Haepum’ was similar to that of ‘Nampyeong’. ‘Haepum’ showed excellent grain appearance and good taste of cooked rice, and therefore it could contribute to the development of bacterial blight-resistant rice cultivars of improved quality. ‘Haepum’ would be suitable for cultivation in the southern plain area of Korea as well as in bacterial blight-prone areas. (Registration No. 6068)

It is reported that the absence of lipoxygenase-3 (LOX-3) may contribute to a reduction in stale flavor after the storage of rice. To improve the quality of stored rice of the Korean japonica rice cultivar, we conducted a breeding program to develop near-isogenic rice without LOX-3 in the genetic background of Saenuri, a mega variety of Korea. In the first step of the breeding program, we used a donor parent of LOX-3 null, Daw Dam, and a recurrent japonica parent, Sindongjin, to develop HR27873-AC12 by backcross (BC₁), color test for introgression of lox-3, and anther culture for rapid fixation. In the second step, we used the donor parent, HR27873-AC12, and the recurrent parent, Saenuri, to develop HR28896-31-3-1-1 by backcross (BC₁), marker-assisted selection (MAS) for lox-3, and phenotypic selection (PS) for agronomic traits. Finally, in the third step, we developed HR30960-186-2-1-2-1 (Jeonju624), derived from a cross between Saenuri and HR28896-31-3-1-1, by MAS for lox-3 and PS with high selection pressure for agronomic characteristics. Jeonju624 was confirmed with the introgression of lox-3 by molecular marker. Jeonju624 was a mid-late maturing rice with similar agronomic characteristics to Saenuri, lodging tolerance with short culm, erect plant architecture, and resistance to bacterial blight and rice stripe virus. The yield components of Jeonju624 were mostly similar to Saenuri, except for the 1,000-grain weight of brown rice. The appearance of the grain of Jeonju624 was better than that of Saenuri, and the characteristics of cooked rice were similar to those of Saenuri. In the genetic background analysis using 406 KASP (Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR) markers, Jeonju624 was confirmed to be the near-isogenic line (NIL) of Saenuri with a 95.8% recovery rate. Jeonju624 is the NIL of Saenuri without LOX-3, and overcomes the linkage drag of Daw Dam with similar agronomic characteristics and genetic background to Saenuri. Jeonju624 can be utilized as a practical cultivar to improve the quality of stored rice, breeding material for the introgression of lox-3, and genetic material to elucidate the effect of introgressed genes.

Joil’ is a multiple disease resistant early maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality. ‘Joil’ was derived from a single cross between ‘Unbong37’ (cultivar name ‘Unmi’) and ‘HR23156-26-2-3-5’. ‘Unmi’ is an early maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality and resistance to rice blast and stripe virus. ‘HR23156-26-2-3-5’ is an early maturing elite rice line with lodging resistance and cold tolerance. ‘Joil’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests. ‘Joil’ was an early maturing rice. The heading date of ‘Joil’ was July 16 in early transplanting cultivation, which was 2 days later than that of ‘Jopyeong’. ‘Joil’ was a lodging resistance rice with a short culm and showed better tolerance to viviparous germination than that of ‘Jopyeong’. ‘Joil’ was a multiple disease resistant rice with resistance against rice blast, bacterial blight, and stripe virus. ‘Joil’ showed higher yield in both early and late-transplanting cultivations than those of the standard rice cultivars ‘Jopyeong’ and ‘Geumo’. ‘Joil’ had enhanced grain quality under high temperature ripening conditions in early transplanting cultivation. The cooked rice had good grain appearance and taste attributes, and this cultivar had a higher head rice ratio than that of ‘Jopyeong’. ‘Joil’, a multiple disease resistant early maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality, would be suitable for early transplanting cultivation in the southern plain area (Registration No. 6792).

‘Jungmo1045’, a multi-resistant japonica rice cultivar developed from a cross between ‘Hanggeumnuri’ having a good eating-quality and high yield and ‘SR30071’ having brown planthopper (BPH) resistance, was developed by the rice breeding team of NICS, RDA in 2015. This cultivar has about 121 days growth duration from transplanting to harvesting in west-southern coast, Honam and Youngnam plain of Korea. It has 73cm culm length and 22cm panicle length. In reaction to biotic and abiotic stresses, it shows resistance to bacterial blight pathogen races from K1 to K3, stripe virus and brown planthopper. The milled rice of ‘Jungmo1045’ exhibits translucent, relatively clear non-glutinous endosperm and medium short grain. It has good palatability of cooked rice compared with ‘Nampyeongbyeo’. The milled rice yield performance of this variety is about 5.74 MT/ha in local adaptability test for three years. ‘Junngmo1045’ would be useful genetic resources for multi-resistance breeding program against disease and insect and eco-friendly cultivation.

‘Manbaek’ is a bacterial blight resistant mid-late maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality. ‘Manbeak’ was derived from anther culture using the backcross combination, Hopum*2/SR30075. ‘Hopum’ is a mid-late maturing rice cultivar with high grain quality and ‘SR30075’ is a pyramid line carrying three bacterial blight resistance genes. ‘Manbaek’ was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests. ‘Manbeak’ carrying two bacterial blight resistance gene Xa3 and xa5 showed high-level and broad-spectrum resistance against bacterial blight. ‘Manbaek’ was resistant to K3a, mostly virulent race in Korea, and exhibited resistance reaction against 16 Korean bacterial blight isolates. ‘Manbaek’ was a mid-late maturing rice. The heading date of ‘Manbaek’ was August 19th, which was 5 days later than that of ‘Nampyeong’. Manbaek’ was a lodging-tolerant rice with short culm and dark green leaf. Due to the low viviparous germination, ‘Manbaek’ could be a useful material to prevent pre-harvest sprouting. ‘Mabeak’ was resistant to bacterial blight and rice stripe virus, but susceptible to other virus diseases and insect pests. The yield of ‘Manbaek’ was similar to ‘Nampyeong’. ‘Manbaek’ showed excellent grain appearance and good tastes of cooked rice, so that it could contribute to improving the quality of bacterial blight resistant cultivars. ‘Manbaek’, bacterial blight resistant cultivar with high grain quality, is suitable for the cultivation at bacterial blight prone area and has been utilized in the breeding programs for enhancing the resistance against bacterial blight (Registration No. 6069).

The sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) variety ‘Sodamchal’ was developed and registered by Department of Sothern Area Crop Science, National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) in 2013. This variety was developed from the cross between ‘Hwanggeumchal’ with brown grain and ’Jungmo4001’ with semi-dwarf trait. ‘Sodamchal’ is the first semi-dwarf stature with waxy endosperm ever developed in Korea. The yield performance of ‘Sodamchal’ was 2.95 MT/ha in local adaptability test for 2 years. It had 91 cm culm length, which was 58 cm shorter than that of ‘Hwanggeumchal’, 26.3 cm panicle length, 22.0 mm thickness of culm, 21.1 g in 1,000 grain weight. It could be reduce the lodging problem and also adapted to mechanized cultivation. ‘Sodamchal’ produces high quantities of polyphenol and radical scavenging activitiy with diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) in pigmented testa. Above all ‘Sodamchal’ is suitable for use as a parental source for the development of improved pollinator parent lines for developing semi-dwarf sorghum with waxy endosperm and antioxidant activity. (Variety registration No. 6244)

The sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) variety ‘Sodamchal’ was developed and registered by Department of Sothern Area Crop Science, National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) in 2013. This variety was developed from the cross between ‘Hwanggeumchal’ with brown grain and ’Jungmo4001’ with semi-dwarf trait. ‘Sodamchal’ is the first semi-dwarf stature with waxy endosperm ever developed in Korea. The yield performance of ‘Sodamchal’ was 2.95 MT/ha in local adaptability test for 2 years. It had 91 cm culm length, which was 58 cm shorter than that of ‘Hwanggeumchal’, 26.3 cm panicle length, 22.0 mm thickness of culm, 21.1 g in 1,000 grain weight. It could be reduce the lodging problem and also adapted to mechanized cultivation. ‘Sodamchal’ produces high quantities of polyphenol and radical scavenging activitiy with diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) in pigmented testa. Above all ‘Sodamchal’ is suitable for use as a parental source for the development of improved pollinator parent lines for developing semi-dwarf sorghum with waxy endosperm and antioxidant activity. (Variety registration No. 6244)

‘Ondami’, a japonica rice cultivar developed from a cross between Hitomebore having a high grain quality and Sangju27 adaptable to southern mid-mountainous area was developed by the rice breeding team of Sangju Substation, NICS, RDA in 2013. The heading date of ‘Ondami’ is july 27 which is same with ‘Odae’ in Southern mid-mountainous area, mid mountainous, southern alpine area and north-east coastal area of South Korea. ‘Ondami’ has 70cm culm length, 19cm panicle length which is 2cm shorter than those of ‘Odae’ and 78 spikelets per panicle. In reaction to biotic and abiotic stresses, it shows strong resistance to blast, but is susceptible to bacterial blight, virus diseases, and insect pests. The milled rice of ‘Ondami’ exhibits translucent and, relatively clear non-glutinous endosperm, and medium short grain shape. This variety has a higher head rice milling recovery ratio(73.1%) and lower amylose content(18.8%) than that of ‘Odae’. The milled rice yield performance of this variety was about 5.29 MT/ha in ordinary cultivation of local adaptability test for three years. ‘Ondami’ could be adaptable to Southern mid-mountainous area, mid mountainous, southern alpine area and north-east coastal area of South Korea.

A doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from the cross between high-yielding japonica rice cultivars ‘Deuraechan’ and ‘Boramchan’ was developed to increase diversity of panicle and yield-related traits and select high-yielding lines. Panicle and yield-related traits of DH population consisting of 163 lines and 13 selected high-yielding lines were analyzed using correlation, principal component, and path analysis. Among panicle-related traits, number of spikelets on secondary rachis-branches (SRBs) was more highly correlated with and had more positive effect on number of spikelets (NS) than number of spikelets on primary rachis-branches (PRBs) per panicle. In the DH population, NS had the most positive effect on yield, whereas panicle number per hill (PN) was in the selected lines. PN was significantly positive correlated with ratio of ripened grain (RGG) in both case. The enhancement of ripening and increase of total spikelets number by increasing PN had more effect on yield than increase of total spiekelts number by increasing NS in the selected lines. Among 13 lines, four lines, AC60, AC152, AC156, and AC161 showed higher yield than Deuraechan (481 kg/10a) and Boramchan (558 kg/10a). Deuraechan exhibited panicle-weight type with low tiller and heavy panicles and Boramchan was slightly panicle-number type with more PN and higher RGG. Selected high-yielding lines showed medium characteristics of parents with improved yield potential. These elite lines could be utilized to develop high-yielding japonica rice.

‘Ibaekchal’ is a proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) variety developed and registered by Department of Sothern Area Crop Science, NICS, RDA in 2011. This variety which collected from Jeju was developed through pure line selection. ‘Ibaekchal’ is a medium late maturing variety having 109 days of growth duration from transplanting to harvesting in Milyang of Korea. The culm length is about 140 cm which is longer culm length than standard variety ‘Hwanggeumgigang’. However it is adapted to mechanized cultivation because it is tolerant to lodging in field. The panicle shape is a severe droopy type and the length is 40 cm. According to the grain, color and endosperm characteristics are white and glutinous. The milled yield performance of this variety was about 2.29 MT/ha in local adaptability test from 2010 to 2011 and it showed 15% increase than standard variety ‘Hwanggeumgigang’. Since Ibaekchal has adaptability to late planting, it is suitable for double cropping in mid and South Korea.

This study was conducted to develop the early maturing rice lines with genes conferring resistance to bacterial blight and rice stripe virus to enhance the adaptability in plain area. Unkwang carrying Xa3 was used as a recurrent parent and SR30075 carrying Xa4+xa5+Xa21+Stvb-i was used as a donor parent. RL1(Resistant Line, BC₁F₇), RL2, RL3, RL4, and RL5(BC₂F₆) were bred through bio-assay of K3a race inoculation and phenotypic selection of agronomic traits. The presence of introduced genes was confirmed by testing the resistance levels against bacterial blight and rice stripe virus and then double-checked by using DNA marker. RL1 has all target genes, Xa3+xa5+Xa21+Stvb-i. RL2, RL3, and RL5 have Xa3+Xa21+Stvb-i whereas RL4 has only Xa21. Rice lines carrying Stvb-i showed resistance reaction to rice stripe virus. The combinations of bacterial blight resistant genes(Xa3+xa5+Xa21 and Xa3+Xa21) were found to be promising, as the rice lines carrying these genes enhanced a strong resistant reaction against 16 bacterial blight isolates. Also, the inoculation of K3a race did not alter the brown rice yield, ripened grain ratio and kernel quality of brown rice compared to control. Although RL1 containing all the target resistance genes showed excellent resistance performance, it is not suitable to cultivate in plain area due to instability to lodging, 80% yield level than Unkwang, and low grain quality. RL5 backcrossed twice with Unkwang was found to be a promising line due to its effective resistance gene combination, Xa3+Xa21+Stvb-i and good agronomic traits such as stability to lodging, higher yield and quality compared to Unkwang.

‘Chindeul’, a new japonica rice cultivar developed from a cross between HR22538-GHB-36-4 having brown planthopper (BPH) resistance and Iksan471 having a good eating-quality and high yield, was developed by the rice breeding team of Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop, NICS, RDA in 2012. This variety has about 124 days growth duration from transplanting to harvesting in west-southern coast, Honam and Youngnam plain of Korea. It has 83 cm culm length and tolerance to lodging. In reaction to biotic and abiotic stresses, it shows resistance to bacterial blight pathogen races from K1 to K3, stripe virus and brown planthopper. The milled rice of ‘Chindeul’ exhibits translucent, relatively clear non-glutinous endosperm and medium short grain. It has lower protein content of 5.9% and good palatability of cooked rice compared with Nampyeongbyeo. The milled rice yield performance of this variety is about 5.61 MT/ha in local adaptability test for three years. ‘Chindeul’ would be useful genetic resources for multi-resistance breeding program against disease and insect.

‘Sanhomi’, a new japonica rice cultivar developed from a cross between Sangmibyeo and F₁ plant derived from the cross between Sangju24 and Hwayeongbyeo having bacterial blight and rice stripe virus resistance was developed by the rice breeding team of Sangju Substation, NICS, RDA in 2012. This variety has about 114 days of growth duration from transplanting to harvesting in southern mid-mountainous area of South Korea. It has 70 cm culm length and tolerance to lodging. In reaction to biotic and abiotic stresses, it shows multiple resistance to blast, bacterial blight and rice stripe virus. The milled rice of ‘Sanhomi’ exhibits translucent and, relatively clear non-glutinous endosperm, and medium short grain. This variety has a higher milled rice recovery (67.3%), better palatability of cooked rice and similar amylose content (19.9%) compared with Odaebyeo. The milled rice yield performance of this variety was about 5.60 MT/ha in local adaptability test for three years. ‘Sanhomi’ would be adaptable to southern mid-mountainous of South Korea.

This study was conducted to develop breeding lines carrying bacterial blight resistance genes, Xa2, Xa3, xa5, and Xa21 for enhancing the resistance of early maturing glutinous japonica rice. Resistant lines were developed by backcrossing into early maturing glutinous elite cultivar, Sangjuchalbyeo and phenotypic selection for bacterial blight resistance and agronomic traits. Selected lines were confirmed the incorporation of the resistance genes using DNA markers and evaluated the resistance reaction against four Korean and eleven Philippine bacterial bight races. HR24465 line carrying Xa2 was resistant to Korean races K1, K2, and Philippine race 9a. HR24666 line carrying Xa3 was moderately resistant or resistant to races except for Korean race K3a and Philippine race 6. Resistant lines carrying xa5 were resistant to all races except for Philippine race 6. HR24669 line carrying Xa21 was moderately resistant or resistant to races except for Korean race K1 and Philippine race 10. Yield-related traits of breeding lines exhibited similar characteristics to Sangjuchalbyeo. These resistant lines could be useful breeding materials for improving the resistance of early maturing glutinous japonica rice against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.

This study was conducted to develop multi-resistant lines to brown planthopper, bacterial blight, and rice stripe virus using anther culture in rice. A total of 213 double haploid lines were developed the cross between HR26234-12-1-1 conferring resistant to bacterial blight and rice stripe virus and SR30071-3-7-23-6-2-1-1 conferring resistant to brown planthopper, bacterial bight, and rice stripe virus. Using DNA molecular marker, HR26234 and SR30071 were confirmed to have Xa3+xa5+Stvb-i and Bph18+Xa4+Stvb-i, respectively. All double haploid lines carried Stvb-i, and Bph18+Xa3, Bph18+Xa4, Bph18+Xa3+xa5, Bph18+Xa4+xa5, bph18+Xa3, bph18+Xa4, bph18+Xa3+xa5, and bph18+Xa4+xa5 combinations were identified. Segregation distortions such as no combinations carrying Bph18(or bph18)+xa5+Stvb-i and fewer lines carrying Bph18 than bph18 were occurred in DH population. Brown planthopper resistant lines carrying Bph18 showed longer culm length than susceptible lines. Selected Bph18+Xa4+xa5+Stvb-i combination lines with short culm conferred resistant to brown planthopper, bacterial blight, and rice stripe virus, while showed deleterious effects such as spikelet sterility, lower yield, and vulnerable to lodging than standard and comparative varieties. Using anther culture, we rapidly developed multi-resistant lines to brown planthopper, bacterial blight, and rice stripe virus. However, distorted segregation in DH population and linkage drag with Bph18 were obstacles to develop practical multi-resistant cultivars.