The development of drought tolerant rice varieties in Malaysia is slow due to limited number of available donors for breeding program. Evaluation of the genetic resources is crucial to increase availability of the potential drought tolerant donors. This study revealed MR219, MR220, MR253, MR269, MRQ74, MRQ76, SIRAJ297, MARDI284, SEMPADAN303, SEBERNAS307 and MARDI308 showed outstanding performance under drought stress based on tiller number, panicle length, harvest index, % of filled grain and grain yield. The least square means of grain yield showed MR269 was the highest followed with MRQ76, with grain yield reduction difference between the two environments was 46.84% and 54.44%, respectively. The genotypic study observed three MARDI varieties which has more than one QTLs, namely MRQ74 (qDTY3.2 and qDTY11.1), MR253 (qDTY2.3 and qDTY3.2) and MRQ76 (qDTY3.2, qDTY2.3 and qDTY11.1). The dendrogram based on morpho-agronomic traits observed MARDI284, MR269, MRQ746, MR253 and MRQ74 showed similarity with Dular. The dendrogram based on genotypic traits observed MRQ74 and MRQ76 showed similarity with Moroberekan. MRQ76 was identified as a potential drought tolerant variety as showed outstanding performance under drought stress and possessed three different QTLs namely qDTY3.2, qDTY2.3, and qDTY11.1.

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