Title: Breeding of salinity tolerant  rice genotypes for the salt-affected area in Iran

Author: Majid Sattari

Abstract: Salinity is the second most important abiotic stress after the drought that limits the rice growth and productivity in many rice-producing areas. Breeding and use of salt-tolerant varieties could be the best strategy to overcome salinity stress.  In this study, eight selected salt-tolerant rice genotypes from IRRI together with two elite high yielding rice varieties as check including Shirodi and fajr were evaluated in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications in salt-affected paddy fields in Joybar, Mazandaran, and Shavoor Research Station in Khuzestan province.  The agronomic traits including plant height (cm), number of tiller per hill, 1000-grain weight(gr), days to 50% flowering, grain yield (kg/ha), and salinity tolerance code (1-9). Results of analysis of variance showed highly significant differences among all genotypes for important agronomic traits. Based on the mean comparison of measured traits, two rice genotypes including IR11T261 with 4480 kg/ha and IR11T262 with 4432 kg/ha obtained the highest average grain yield, showed better performance in salinity conditions with a salinity tolerance code of 3 in Joybar, Mazandaran. Between the two check varieties, the performance of Shirodi with 3927 kg/ha average grain yield and salinity tolerance code of 4 is also notable.   Genotype IR11T262 with 1697 kg/ha average grain yield and salinity tolerance code of 3, showed better performance in salinity conditions in Shavoor, Khuzestan. Therefore, these three rice genotypes (IR11T261, IR11T262, and Shirodi) could be used for further tests in salt-affected areas and incorporated with sensitive local rice varieties for the development of salinity tolerant in the rice breeding program.

Keywords: Rice, Salinity tolerance, Breeding population, Grain yield

Contact: majidsattari@yahoo.com