Norin No.20

Norin No.1 as a mother, in Hokkaido

"Paddy Rice Norin No.20" was produced in the Ministry's designated paddy rice breeding trial within the Kamikawa Branch of the Hokkaido Agricultural Experiment Station, where in 1932 "Paddy Rice Norin No.1" (originating in Niigata Prefecture) was taken as the mother and "Iburiwase" as the father in an artificial cross, and selection and fixing were pursued thereafter. From April 1937 it carried the provisional name "Sho 12-16A", from April 1940 the line name "Hokkai No.86", under which its seed was distributed across the prefecture to confirm regional suitability, and in April 1941 it received the variety name "Paddy Rice Norin No.20".

March 1943. Agricultural Administration Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The cross was made in 1932, the year after Norin No.1 was named. A variety only just named was already in the next cross.

The name changed three times: Sho 12-16A (provisional) → Hokkai No.86 (line name) → Paddy Rice Norin No.20 (variety name). It is unusual for the provisional name to survive in the record.

"Paddy Rice Norin No.1" (originating in Niigata Prefecture)

The mother's place of origin is added in brackets. Seen from a Hokkaido document, Norin No.1 was somebody else's variety.

"Already thirty-eight varieties"

The preface states how far the programme had come.

The excellent new varieties bred under this organisation already number thirty-eight.

The same preface rewrites the number year by year.

Ten to thirty-eight in seven years. That is the rate at which the eight-district system, begun in fiscal 1927, was turning out varieties.

A "marked difference" in blast resistance

It is lodging-resistant, with strong fertiliser tolerance and strong blast resistance — the degree of resistance in particular showing a marked difference from the varieties hitherto in use, matching "Paddy Rice Norin No.15"

Its mother was weak to blast, yet its own resistance is described as markedly different from the varieties then in use. Whether that came from the father, Iburiwase, or from the selection, the document does not say.

One concrete advantage of the culm is recorded:

The culm is of medium thickness and its substance, rather than being coarse and stiff like "Hashiribozu No.2" or "Bozu No.5", is tough, which should be advantageous for using the straw

Advantageous for using the straw. Not only the quality of the grain: the quality of the straw is written down as a trait.