In vitro screening using polyethylene glycol (PEG) was performed with matured seed-derived callus from six elite rice varieties and eight advanced cultures to understand the response to drought stress. Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2 mg l-1 of 1-napthaleneacetic acid and 5, 10, 15 and 20 g l-1 of PEG 6000 were used to induce drought stress in callus. Significant differences were observed among the genotypes, treatments and their interactions for callus morphology and fresh

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... The genotypes PMK3, RMD(R)1, ARB6 , ARB7 and ARB8 were identified as the most tolerant to drought stress using principal component analysis (PCA). A total of 48 crosses made from these genotypes showed significant yield increase over their respective parents. The hybrids RMD(R)1/ARB7, PMK3/ARB7 and PMK3/ARB8 were identified as drought tolerant using PCA analysis. From the study it is proved that in vitro screening method can be used to identify drought tolerant rice genotypes.