Abstract

In the context of climate change and increasing global population by 2050 it is estimated that rice should double actual production rates. Generating varieties adapted to different climatic constrains is one of the solutions to ensure rice production in future climates. In rice, although we have improved knowledge of secondary traits conferring adaptation to different climatic constrains, increased phenotyping and genotyping techniques and access to genetic diversity; there is little evidence of inclusion in breeding programs. We will present the research conducted in collaboration with the CGIAR (CIAT, IRRI, AfricaRice), local NARS (Fedearroz-FLAR) and universities (U.Javeriana) in Colombia to provide tools to generate climate adapted varieties at a faster rate. We will present how an integration of envirotyping and high-throughput phenotyping techniques has allowed us to optimize the use of genetic diversity for different environments and climatic scenarios. Environmental characterization identified low radiation and high night temperatures as key climatic constrains for Colombian lowland breeding material. We developed two phenotyping platforms for these contains and identify key morphological and metabolic traits that should be included as secondary traits for Colombian breeding material. As a product for breeders, we provided QTLs and candidate genes that are under validation for marker-assisted selection and parental lines that are used in the local and CGIAR breeding programs.