Growth Performance of Tossa Jute (Corchorus olitorius) under Waterlog Stress in Tropical Monsoon Climate Region

Waterlogging is a serious abiotic stress for Tossa jute cultivation in flood-prone areas or haor areas of Bangladesh. There is no waterlog-tolerant variety in Bangladesh, and hence it is essential to study the growth performance of Tossa jute genotypes under waterlogged stress. Two previously selected lines, Accession (Acc.) 1306 and Acc. 1318, an exotic variety JRO-524 and three popular varieties, e.g., BJRI Tossa pat 5, BJRI Tossa pat 8 and BJRI Tossa pat 9, were grown at Jute Agricultural Experiment Station, Manikganj in 2022. Jute genotypes were grown in three different blocks in which two plots were inundated at 65- and 80-day age, respectively and one plot was used as a control without inundation. Artificially, waterlog condition was maintained for 30 days. Survivability status and other agronomic characteristics (plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight, root length, fiber yield) were observed closely after the submergence condition. There was a difference in the plant survivability percentage. Maximum plants (97.1%) of Acc. 1306 were survived under waterlog conditions at 65 days after sowing (DAS) but in case of inundation at 80 DAS, JRO-524 had maximum survivability (92.9%) than other genotypes followed by Acc. 1318(91.6%) and BJRI Tossa pat 8 (90.2%) Among all jute genotypes, BJRI Tossa pat 5 gave highest fiber yield (3.05 t/ha) when inundated after 80 days followed by inundated after 65 days (2.75 t/ha) in this variety compared to the control. Correlation study reveals that fiber yield and stick yield of Tossa jute are strongly correlated; root length and adventitious root length have negative correlation with green weight with leaf, fiber and stick yield. BJRI Tossa pat 5 showed robust adaptive responses with notable increases in both root length and adventitious root length in case of inundation at 65 and 80 DAS. BJRI Tossa pat 5 may be considered as a relatively waterlog tolerant Tossa jute variety which can be used for cultivation in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh.