An increase in productivity is always one of the main goals of any crop breeding program including rice. However, many goals can be identified for this crop varying in importance from region to region, country to country, and even within a given country. Increase in grain yield potential is the major goal of almost all rice breeders programs. The major impacts are related to the development of new strategies to increase the genetic grain yield potential of the varieties. Rice breeders have been very successful in improving the crop. Some milestones are the contribution to the green revolution with the semi-dwarf varieties, the new rice plant type and hybrid rice. The main breeding method used to improve rice is the pedigree, but development of hybrids and population improvement are added to the breeder’s portfolio. Breeders have been taking advantage of biotechnology tools to enhance their breeding capacity; however, many programs are still struggling on how to integrate them into the breeding programs and how to balance the allocation of resources between conventional and modern tools.
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