Salt Tolerance in Rice Varieties

In a water culture experiment, two dwarf (Hamsa & TN1) and two tall (MCM2 & HR12) indica varieties of rice were tested for salt tolerance at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 mmhos salt concentration supplied through binary mixture of sodium chloride and calcium chloride. The results indicated that rice plant, irrespective of variety, tolerated salt concentration up to 3 mmhos. At 4.5 mmhos level, there was a reduction In yield from 25 to 35 per cent, The per cent sterility was about 30 in Hamsa, TNI and HR12 upto 5 mmhos salt concentration. But in the case of MCM2, the sterility gradually increased from about 30 to 47 per cent. At 10 mmhos level, the sterility was to the tune of 66 per cent for all the varieties.