Response of seventeen advance rice lines to salinity and sodicity.

Abstract

Rice is considered one of the most salt sensitive cereals, however, a great genetic diversity exists within rice species for salinity tolerance. Therefore, a study was executed to identify salinity tolerance of seventeen advance rice lines based on of agronomic characters and Na and K contents. Advance lines of rice namely, SRI-22, SRI-23, SRI-24, SRI-25, SRI-26, SRI-27, SRI-28, SRI-29, SRI-30, SRI-31, SRI-32, SRI-33, SRI-34, SRI-35, SRI-36, SRI-37, and SRI-38 were transplanted in cemented block at electrical conductivity of soil extract (ECe) 6 dS m-1 and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) 25. Data about plant height, shoot fresh/dry weight, root fresh/dry weight, panicle length, No. grain/ panicle, No. of tillers/plant, grain yield and 1000 grain weight were recorded at maturity while Na and K contents were determined in leaves. Overall results revealed that SRI-23 and SRI-28 showed better performance than all other genotypes and produced comparatively better plant height, shoot fresh/dry weight, root fresh/dry weight, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, with low leave's Na and high K contents. On contrary, the performance of SRI-38 and SRI-24 was poor for these attributes. It was concluded that SRI-23 and SRI-28 were comparatively salt tolerant, while SRI-38 and SRI-24 were salt sensitive genotypes. These findings are significant and could be used to bring the salt-affected area under rice culture.