Registration of ‘Avant’ rice

Abstract

‘Avant’ (Reg. no. CV-161; PI 699954), an early-maturing and high-yielding long-grain rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivar, was developed by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station near Crowley, LA, and was approved for release in 2021. Avant was selected from the cross ‘Trenasse’//‘Cocodrie’/‘Jefferson’/3/‘Ahrent’/‘Cocodrie’// Cocodrie/‘LaGrue’. It demonstrated good yield potential and favorable agronomic characteristics in the 2017 preliminary yield trial. From 2018 to 2023, Avant underwent evaluation in 54 replicated trials across nine locations in Louisiana. Four high-yielding commercial cultivars were included as checks: ‘Mermentau’, ‘Cheniere’, ‘CL153’, and ‘CLL17’. The grain yield of Avant was 9.5 t ha⁻¹ compared to 9.3 t ha⁻¹ for Mermentau, 8.8 t ha⁻¹ for Cheniere, 9.5 t ha⁻¹ for CL153, and 9.3 t ha⁻¹ for CLL17 across 46 trials from 2018 to 2023. Avant was significantly shorter than Mermentau, Cheniere, CL153, and CLL17. It exhibits cooking quality similar to typical US long-grain rice. Avant is susceptible to sheath blight, moderately susceptible to leaf blast and bacterial panicle blight, and moderately resistant to narrow brown leaf spot.