In 1976 an induced semidwarf at the sd1 locus was directly released in California as the cultivar Calrose 76, the first semidwarf table rice cultivar in the US. In conventional cross-breeding programs, this cultivar has served as the ancestral source of semidwarfism in numerous improved cultivars developed by breeders in California, Australia and Egypt. The semidwarfs convey much-needed lodging resistance and responsiveness to fertilization, resulting in 15-20% yield increases. Mutants also were found for early maturity, one of which was used in cross-breeding to develop the semidwarf, early maturing cultivar M-101. Following the initial successes with semidwarfism and early maturity, other applications have been sought for induced and spontaneous mutants. In the late 1970s and 1980s in California these included recessive genetic male steriles, endosperm mutants, and an elongated uppermost internode (eui) mutant for potential use in hybrid seed production. In the 1990s and 2000s induced mutants were produced in Arkansas. To date these have included 12 semidwarfs, all nonallelic to sd1. Although phenotypically similar to sd1, these nonallelic mutants have not shown the increased yield responsiveness of sd1. Other mutants found in Arkansas have included early maturity mutants, dominant genetic male steriles, an eui mutant in indica germplasm, and a low phytic acid mutant. Also, previously available semidwarf and early maturing basmati mutants have been intercrossed to develop the semidwarf, early maturing basmati germplasm designated aromatic se. An exciting current application is induction of early maturing mutants in high yielding indica germplasm, thus offering the potential for use of indica, i.e., tropical rice, in the US, which to date has been a japonica rice growing nation.