Sixteen upland rice varieties, comprising of some interspecific New rice for Africa (NERICA) hybrids,
established varieties and some breeding lines, were raised in the greenhouse and used to expound
drought response under varying moisture conditions, as a guide for breeding genotypes with
appreciable drought tolerance and grain yield. Varieties were subjected to different levels of drought
stress through different combinations of moisture regime and times of water application at different
stages of growth. Varieties, moisture regime and times of water application espoused significant mean
squares (MS) for root, vegetative and grain production. Times of water application consistently
accounted for the largest percentage of mean squares (PMS) for most characters. Significant
interaction was also obtained between variety, moisture regime and times of water application for most
of the characters. There were significant correlations between times of water application and all the
root, shoot and grain yield character. Fresh shoot weight, dry shoot weight, tiller number and leaf
number were also positively correlated to moisture regime. WAB 880 recorded the largest mean value
for root volume and thickness and hence better drought adaptation but this failed to translate to
superior grain production. ITA 150, an established variety, however recorded the highest panicle
number and grain production compared to WAB 880 and the NERICA varieties. The need for further
introgression of genes from ITA 150 into newly developed NERICA varieties through an intricate
combination of favourable genes for improved drought tolerance and better grain production was
canvassed.