Impact of Salinity Stress on Morpho-physiology of Four Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties

Abiotic stress, especially salinity, is one of the major restraints for attaining self-sufficiency in the food grain production. The saline soils affect the crop growth both directly and indirectly by interfering with plant metabolism resulting in reduction in yield potential of various crops. Rice (Oryza sativa L.), the staple food of much of the world’s population, is categorized as a salt-susceptible crop. Improving the salt tolerance of rice would increase the potential of saline-alkali land and ensure food security. To investigate the effect of different levels of salinity on morpho-physiological characters and yield of four rice variety viz. Pokkali, Narendra Ushar Dhan 3, IR 28 and IR 29. A pot experiment was conducted during Kharif 2011 and 2012 at the Department of Crop Physiology, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad (U.P.) under normal soil and saline conditions with EC 6.0 and EC 10.0 dS/m. Gradual increase on plant height as well as biomass with the advancement in the age of crop up to dough grain in all the varities under both normal and salinity treatment. Maximum grain yield recorded in tolerant varieties Narendra Usar Dhan 3 followed by Pokkali, whereas minimum in IR 28. Under saline conditions regarding sink potential, the tolerant varieties recorded less reduction in yield attributes like length of panicle (cm), number of panicle per plant, number grain panicle-1 and grain yield plant-1 as compared to normal condition. The salinity tolerance capacity of tolerance varieties was associated with increased the activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase enzyme batter accumulation of proline and total carbohydrate as compared to normal condition.