Screening of Some Traditional Rice Cultivars in Sri Lanka for Salinity Tolerance at the Seedling Stage in a Hydrophonic System

Abstract

Salinity is a major constraint for rice production of the world. Salinity affects all growth stages of rice plant which limit growth and yield of rice. In present study sixteen traditional rice cultivars were investigated for salinity stress at the seedling stage. The experiment was carried out according to the randomized complete block design with four replicates and ten plants were included in to each replicate. Dormancy broken, surface sterilized rice seeds were germinated in distilled water for three days and they were transferred to Yoshida solution salinized up to 6 dS/m. After three days, salinity level was increased to 12 dS/m and seedlings were kept in the same conditions for 14 days. Shoot length, root length, and survival rate were evaluated on the 14th day and root dry weight and shoot dry weight were evaluated at the end of the experiment after keeping materials at 70 °C for 7days. Control experiment was carried out along with the treatment. Data were analyzed using ANOVA. Among tested traditional rice cultivars 18% of rice cultivars recorded more than 15% survival rates .Sudu Karayal which recorded the highest survival percentage (25% ) at salinity stress can be considered as a potential cultivar for further studies in salinity tolerance at different growth stages.