Determination of some agronomical characteristics and Ochratoxin-A level of Karacadag rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Diyarbakir ecological conditions, Turkey

This study was conducted to determine yield, quality and Ochratoxin-A level of Karacadag rice local varieties grown widely in Karacadag ecological conditions of Southeast Anatolian Region and to compare with some commercial rice varieties during 2006 and 2007. In the study, total 12 rice genotypes consisting of 10 local varieties and 2 cultivars from foreign origin were used as material. Statistically the differences among the genotypes for all the characters were highly significant. The longest plants of 99.50 cm were recorded in Karacadag landrace No. 1 location with 10.47 tillers per plant, 7.82 panicles per plant and biological yields of 285.10 g plant-1. Whereas, cv. Ribe showed 99.52 grains per panicle, cv. Baldo had 2.686 g grain yield per panicle and 5662.2 kg ha-1 grain yield per unit area. Unbroken rice output rate of all rice landraces was higher compared to breeding cultivars. No 3 and 8 of Karacadag rice samples; which showed superior values in terms of plant height, number of tillers per plant and grain yield. It was concluded that these Karacadag rice landraces can contribute in obtaining of high yielded cultivars. That air temperature of Southeast Anatolian Region reached about 400C at booting stage lead to high spikelet sterility, but yield differences among landraces and breeding cultivars could be eliminated with great number of panicles per plant. All rice and white milled rice samples in this study were analysed in respect of Ochratoxin-A with ELISA test. It was found that ochratoxin-A level in samples from Odabası-Cermik and Mehmediyan-Kocakoy locations were higher compared to samples taken from other locations. In general, the samples were found suitable to Turkish Food Codex and European Union (EU) regulations.