Information on genetic diversity and relationships among rice genotypes from Pakistan iscurrently very limited. Molecular marker analysis can truly be beneficial in analyzing the diversityof rice germplasm providing useful information to broaden the genetic base of modern ricecultivars. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic polymorphism of 75 riceaccessions and improved cultivars using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique.Twenty-eight decamer-primers generated a total of 145 RAPD fragments, of which 116 (80%) werepolymorphic. The number of amplification products produced by each primer varied from 3 to 9with an average of 5.2 alleles primer
-1
. The size of amplified fragments ranged from 250 to 4000bp.A dendrogram was generated from minimal variance algorithm using Ward method. All the 75genotypes were grouped into two main groups corresponding to aromatic and non-aromatic typesof
indica
rice. Clustering of accessions did not show any significant pattern of association betweenthe RAPD fingerprints and collection sites. This type of analysis grouping different rice accessionsin relation to fragrance, a major rice quality determinant, and varietal group is extremely useful todevelop a core collection and gene bank management. Further more, the information revealed bythe RAPDs regarding genetic variation is helpful to the plant breeder in selecting diverse parentsand for future orientation of rice breeding program