ABSTRACT
In 1992 the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) started to examine the effect of certain soil characteristics on the Fe content in the grain. Because the mineral content in grain is highly influenced by the environment, it is misleading to compare genotypes based on the grain mineral content data. Adding some high micronutrient parents in the rice breeding program with direct selection for high micronutrient traits will improve the nutritional value of the next generation of varieties. All commercial high-yielding rice varieties showed negative GCA for GMD, suggesting that these parental rice varieties in general would not contribute higher mineral density traits to the next generation. Moreover, it may be suggested that breeding for enhancing grain mineral elements should aim at optimizing the mineral elements important for human nutrition, or for using selection strategies for multiple traits, which is needed for enhancing GMD.
