Department of Plant Physiology, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, 492012, Chhattisgarh
A field experiment was conducted at Raipur during the dry season of 1999 and 2000 to study the effect of drought at panicle initiation stage on growth, leaf rolling, plant-water status and yield of rice. Drought significantly decreased the plant height and leaf area index. Significant varietal variations were observed in terms of capacity to maintain water status, leaf rolling and yield stability under drought. ‘Kranti’ maintained higher leaf relative water content up to the end of drought spell and was related with yield stability. The studies showed that leaf rolling under drought is governed by leaf water status. The result also indicated that varieties with bigger plant size suffered more due to drought compared to smaller plant size.
Rice, Yield stability, Drought, Relative water content, Leaf rolling
