Plant characters as selection indices for plant elongation in deepwater rice

Five deepwater rice varieties and their ten hybrids were evaluated in deepw ater tanks of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) under raising water depth. Six characters including plant height were recorded to find out the associations among the characters as well as their contribution towards pl ant elongation and to identify plant characters as selection indices for pl ant elongation. Leaf blade length, leaf sheath length, internode length and internode number were found positively correlated with plant height. Leaf sheath length, internode length and internode number directly contributed t o elongate plants. So, these characters could be used in breeding programme for plant elongation as well as effective selection.