Assessment of Sodicity Tolerance in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Germplasm

The experiment on 113 genotypes (aromatic and non-aromatic rice) including three checks viz., Sarjoo 52, FL 478, and CSR 10 of rice (Oryza sativa L.) was conducted to work out the identification of elite genotypes based on grain yield and their various yield attributing traits. The grain yield per plant ranged from 8.898g for NDRK 50047 to 24.658g in the case of IR 13 T 141 with a general mean of 16.464g. Out of 113 genotypes, thirty-six genotypes produced significantly higher grain yield per plant than the general mean. The best ten genotypes for higher grain yield per plant were IR 13 T 141, IR 11 T 230, IR 13 T 145, IR 12 T 147, IR 11 T 171, IR 11 T 132, IR 11 T 205, IR 12 T 193, AT 401, and CSR 43. Similarly, the genotypes showed that very high mean performance in the desired direction for various characters; may also be used as donors for improving the characters for which they had high mean performance in yield and yield contributing traits. The availability of large genetic variability, as well as the nature of heritability and gene actions, are all important factors in the success of selection in improving plant traits. The basic material for a plant breeding programme is genetic diversity, which is used to generate superior genotypes through selection.