Development of sodicity tolerant rice varieties through marker assisted backcross breeding

The ‘Saltol’ QTL, responsible for salt tolerance at seedling stage of rice was successfully introgressed into ADT 43, a salt sensitive but a popular commercial rice variety of favorable irrigated rice ecosystem of Tamil Nadu, through Marker Assisted Backcross Breeding (MABB) technique. The newly developed ‘Saltol’ lines were confirmed to be salt tolerant, high yielding and with good cooking quality traits. The importance of RM 3412, RM 8094 and SKC 2a was envisaged in diagnosing the sodiicty tolerance. Role of other QTLs like qSES and qCHL on chromosome 3, in conferring sodicity tolerance at seeding stage was also indicated.