'New-hikari', a new rice cultivar

'New-hikari' (Oryza sativa L.), a medium-maturing paddy rice cultivar with low amylose content in endosperm starch, was developed under the national crop breeding program at Fukui Agricultural Experiment Station in 2006. 'New-hikari' was bred from a cross between 'Etsunan 148' and 'Kanto 168' that were made in 1993. A promising line named 'Etsunan 190' in the Fsub(9) generation was selected to be submitted to local adaptability trials from 2001 to 2005. 'Etsunan 190' was officially registered as 'Paddy Rice Norin 421' by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and named 'New-hikari' in 2006. Several important characteristics of 'New-hikari' are the following. 'New hikari' heads and matures as same as 'Koshihikari' in Hokuriku region. The culm length is about 10 cm shorter than 'Koshihikari' and the resistance to lodging is stronger than 'Koshihikari'. 'New-hikari' is outstanding in its excellent eating quality, especially the softness of cooked rice is much superior to 'Koshihikari'. Because of this trait 'New-hikari' is adaptable for blend rice into rice with poor eating quality to improve the texture. 'New-hikari' produced about 10% more brown rice than 'Koshihikari' on average in the performance tests at our breeding fields over an 7 year period. The tolerance to pre-harvest sprouting in fields under humid conditions is high, or nearly equal to that of 'Koshihikari'. Against blast disease, 'New-hikari' seems to have one resistant gene (Pita-2), and the field resistance of the leaf and panicle can be rated as slightly weak. The tolerance to cool-temperature in the booting stage is slightly weak. The tolerance to bacterial leaf blight and rice stripe virus is medium and susceptible, respectively. The size of the brown rice is smaller than 'Koshihikari'. The amylose content in endosperm starch is about 8.5%, and the appearance of the brown rice looks opaque.