Rice genetic resources are key components to breeding programs, and farmers have played
important roles in contributing to rice diversity by developing and nurturing thousands of rice varieties
for several years [12]. This vast wealth of rice germplasm including landraces and traditional varieties
is a good source of important alleles to develop new rice varieties. These germplasms serve as the
foundation of any rice breeding program because they are the source of important traits necessary for
improving and developing new breeds of rice varieties [13]. Several reports have shown the utilization
of rice landraces in developing new varieties. IR8, dubbed a miracle rice [14], was the product from
crosses between two landraces: a semi dwarf rice Dee-geo-woo-gen and tall, vigorous rice Peta [15].
The submergence tolerance SUB1 QTL was identified from submergence tolerant rice landrace
FR13A. Its identification and characterization led to successful introgression of the QTL to rice
mega-varieties [16]. Recently, the NAL1 allele that was identified from tropical Japonica rice landrace
Daringan significantly increased the yield of modern rice cultivars [17].Agronomy 2014, 4 219
Characterization of rice germplasms increases its utility in any breeding program. The use of
agro-morphological traits is the most common approach utilized to estimate relationships between
genotypes [18]. This approach was employed to assess diversity on ancestral lines of improved rice
varieties in the Philippines [13], the indigenous rice in Yunnan, China [19] and the rice landraces in
Nepal [18]. The conservation and characterization of these genetic resources is a necessity not only for
posterity, but also for utilization in different improvement programs such as breeding for improved
yield and tolerance to various stresses. It is important to assess the diversity of these germplasms
materials to provide insights in the diversity of these germplasms.