Evaluation of Rice and Wheat Cultivars for Tolerance to Salinity and Sodicity in Soil

Abstract

The large genotypic variation for salt tolerance in rice and wheat is the driving force behind efforts to identify appropriate cultivars for salt-prone environments where large variations in salinity (electrical conductivity, EC) and sodicity (sodium adsorption ratio, SAR) levels exist. An evaluation of the commonly grown rice and wheat cultivars at different EC/SAR ratios may thus help in coping with the crop failures on salt-affected soils. Accordingly, we evaluated some salt-tolerant cultivars of rice and wheat for growth and yield at different soil salinity and sodicity levels in a sandy clay loam soil. Among the cultivars tested, rice 'SSRI-8' produced the highest productive tillers and paddy yield, and wheat cultivar 'SIS-32' produced the highest tillers and grain and straw yields. The high EC/SAR ratios proved more hazardous for rice than for wheat. Irrespective of the varieties tested, the highest levels of EC and SAR (T 5 and T 6 ) caused significant reduction in paddy yield, whereas at the lowest levels of EC and SAR (T 1 and T 2 ), paddy yield was not affected significantly when compared with the control. However, in case of wheat crop, all the levels [i.e., the lowest (T 1 and T 2 ), medium (T 3 and T 4 ), and the highest (T 5 and T 6 ) of EC and SAR tested] affected wheat yield adversely with significant differences. For both the crops, there were little or no differences in yield between the two ratios tested (i.e., 1:2 and 1:4) at all the levels of EC and SAR.

Silicon-Induced Growth and Yield Enhancement in Two Wheat Genotypes Differing in Salinity Tolerance

“…In both experiments, salinity stress significantly depressed the growth of plants in hydroponics as well as straw and grain yields of wheat in the field conditions. Murtaza et al (2009) reported significant reduction in yield of wheat due to salinity and sodicity. Growth reduction in wheat plants can be attributed to the increased Na + concentration and decreased K + concentration in shoots under salt stress (Tables 2, 3, and 4).…”

Yield and nitrogen use efficiency of rice-wheat cropping system in gypsum amended saline-sodic soil

“…Nitrate taken up by plant roots is assimilated in the roots while its major part is transported to the shoots where it is transformed to NH 4 + in the cytoplasm (Lam et al, 1996). Ammonium ions in the solution are generally bound to negatively charged soil surfaces and transported to surface water bodies through runoff, whereas excessive NO 3 --N is leached from vadose zone to the phreatic zone, thereby contaminating the water in aquifers (Howden et al, 2013 : Na + ratios in the soil solution (Murtaza et al, 2009). The broadcasting of gypsum along with N has a greater potential to decrease the soil salinity, resultantly, increased rooting depth and uptake rates of N, P, K, Ca, Cu and Mn.…”

Effect of Salinity and Potassium Fertilizer Application on Yield Contributing Characteristics of Rice

“…The high K/Na ratio in the tissue is considered to be a good marker for salt tolerance in a crop plant (Wei et al, 2003). Plant uptake of salt ions from soil depends on their concentration in soil solution (Murtaza et al, 2009). The growth both vegetative and grain yield of plant is associated with high K + relative to Na + .…”

“…The growth both vegetative and grain yield of plant is associated with high K + relative to Na + . Moreover, other agronomic parameters such as number of tillers are also paralleled the effects of K + selectivity on the grain yield (Murtaza et al, 2009).…”