Development of water-stress-tolerant rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars is imperative to ensure food security. With this background, 36 rice genotypes comprising six parental genotypes and 30 advanced rice populations underwent water-stress tolerance evaluation using water-stress and irrigated field conditions. Significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences were evident among the genotypes, environments, and genotype-by-environment interactions for yield-related traits. Yield depreciation of rice genotypes under water-stress conditions varied depending on their genotypic tolerance potential. Stress tolerance indicators, such as stress susceptibility index (SSI), stress tolerance index (STI), and yield index (YI), along with the principal component analysis (PCA), served to identify water-stress-tolerant genotypes. For water-stress conditions, the highest grain yield per plant (GY) and desirable stress tolerance indices resulted in G09 (GY = 25.56 g; SSI = –0.36; STI = 1.23; YI = 1.45), G31 (GY = 21.16 g; SSI = –1.50; STI = 0.69; YI = 1.20), G32 (GY = 22.36 g; SSI = –0.59; STI = 0.90; YI = 1.27), and G34 (GY = 21.88 g; SSI = –1.40; STI = 0.75; YI = 1.24). These promising genotypes can be favorable for the development of water-stress-tolerant cultivars through future breeding programs.

Keywords: Rice (O. sativa L.), advanced rice populations, genotype-by-environment interactions, water-stress tolerance, water-stress-tolerance indices, grain yield

Key findings: Newly developed rice (O. sativa L.) genotypes G09, G31, G32, and G34 displayed water-stress-tolerance profiles with the highest grain yield and desirable stress tolerance indices.