Comparative studies on the NaCl tolerance potential of three rice varieties

Soil salinity is a major threat to agriculture. It significantly reduces the yield of many crops including rice. Since rice is the staple food of Asia, its reduction in the yield directly reflects in the human society. The present study was a comparison of NaCl stress tolerance potential of three rice varieties. Among the three rice varieties, one was a traditional variety (Chitteni) and other two were hybrid varieties (Aathira and Jyothi). The seeds of all the three varieties were allowed to germinate in various concentrations of NaCl and the growth attributes of the seedlings (germination  percentage, shoot length, fresh and dry weight, dry weight percentage and moisture content percentage) were measured. At higher concentration of NaCl, the seedlings showed reduction in shoot length, fresh weight, dry weight etc. The NaCl concentration at which the seedlings showed 50% growth retardation was taken as the maximum NaCl stress tolerance potential of the variety. It was observed that the traditional rice variety Chitteni showed more NaCl stress tolerance potential as compared to the hybrid varieties. Thus from the results of the study it can be inferred that the traditional rice variety Chitteni can be used for salinity stress tolerance breeding purposes due to its higher NaCl stress tolerance potential.

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