Rice Screening With Hydroponic Deep-Flow Technique Under Salinity Stress

Salinity is one of the main abiotic stresses affecting rice crops. It considerably affects the growth and yield traits of rice, especially rice planted in coastal areas. The development of rice genotypes adapted to salinity requires effective screening and intensive selection. Selection in the seedling stage is ineffective because it cannot predict and quantify the productivity of a genotype under stressed conditions. Therefore, selection in the generative phase by considering yield traits is important. The main aim of this study was to determine selection in the generative phase and environment under a hydroponic culture with a deep flow technique (DFT). The study was laid out in with a randomized complete block design comprising two factors (cultivars and NaCl concentrations) with three replications in a greenhouse from April 2020 to June 2020 at the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia. Five rice cultivars, i.e., ‘Inpari-34 Salin Agritan’, ‘Ciherang’, ‘IR-29’, ‘Inpari-29’, and ‘Jeliteng’, were tested at three NaCl levels, i.e., 0, 60, and 120 mM. Data analysis was carried out on genetic and multivariate factors. On the basis of results, the 60 mM level of NaCl was recommended for the screening and selection of salinity-tolerant genotypes. The agronomic characters that could also be used as selection criteria were productive tillers and rice yield per plant. Therefore, the hydroponic DFT is suggested and recommended to be the best method for the controlled screening of salinity in the generative phase of rice crops.