This paper examines the gendered trait preferences for rice and their role in the adoption of improved rice varieties among men and women rice farmers in Ghana. Four hundred rice farm households and 261 consumers were surveyed across 20 communities using a simple random sampling technique. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, Tobit, and the multivariate probit regressions were used in the analyses. The results show differences in preferences for cooking quality traits and postharvest traits among men and women farmers. There was also a gender differential in the intensity of purchasing rice among men and women consumers. The results show that rice farmers’ decisions to adopt any of the four varieties—AGRA rice, Jasmine, Togo Marshall, or Amankwatia—are influenced by age, being married or indigenous, years of schooling, off-farm activities, farming experience, household size, farm size, FBO membership, extension contact, market proximity, and access to credit. To improve the rice value chain in Ghana, rice breeding efforts should consider varieties with trait preferences such as being tolerant of pest and diseases, aromatic, early maturing, and tolerance to shattering. However, to enhance the consumption of improved rice varieties, breeding efforts should target varieties that are aromatic, good textured, and have medium-sized grains for female consumers, while for male consumers preferred varieties would be less easily broken, white grain color, translucent, and with short cooking time.

Poor germination and seedling establishment under flooded conditions is a major bottleneck in the direct-seeding system of rice. The objectives of this study were to determine the genetic variability for traits associated with anaerobic germination and identify tolerant genotypes. One hundred rice genotypes were screened. Data were collected on survival percentage, shoot length, root length, length of plant above water, and seedling vigor index. Six clusters, which were generally related to the ability of the genotypes to tolerate anaerobic germination, were detected. The first two principal components accounted for 91.1% of the total variation, with survival percentage, seedling vigor index and shoot length being the main discriminatory traits. Genotypic coefficient of variation ranged from 18.21% for shoot length to 50.89% for seedling vigor index. Shoot length and seedling vigor index recorded high broad-sense heritability estimates (>60%), with accompanying high genetic advance as percent of mean (>20%); the latter ranged from 23.12% for root length to 82.21% for seedling vigor index. The high heritability, along with high genetic advance, particularly for shoot length and seedling vigor index, indicated that selection for these traits should be effective in improving tolerance to anaerobic germination. Five tolerant genotypes (OBOLO, ART68-12-1-1-B-B, ART64-31-1-1-B-B, CRI-1-21-5-12, and CRI-Enapa) with high survival percentage (≥70%) under anaerobic conditions were identified. These genotypes could be used to improve commercial rice varieties for tolerance to anaerobic germination.