Abstract

This Bengal variety of paddy, popularly known as Double rice or double grain paddy was obtained from Poona Agricultural College in the year 1920. It is similar in most of the morphological char- acters to the cultivated types, but differs essentially from them in having more than one pistil in each spikelet-the unit of inflorescence. In this Double rice 6.3,4 the number of pistils varies ordinarily from two to four, and rarely five are met with. The number of developed rice- kernels found in each paddy grain varies from one to three so that the popular name Double rice is a misnomer. The failure of some of the pistils to develop into kernels may probably be due to the infertility of those ovules, and this remains to be investigated.

Keywords: