International Journal of Plant & Soil Science

Aim: To assess phenotypic performance and to estimate genetic variability for salt tolerance in both seedling and reproductive stages of rice under coastal saline soils.

Study Design: Field experiment was carried out to evaluate Recombinant Inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross MCM 109/BRR 0119 for salt tolerance in Alpha-lattice design.

Place and Duration of Study: The present study was conducted at natural coastal saline soils of Acharya N. G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU)- Agricultural Research Station (ARS), Machilipatnam during Kharif, 2024.

Methodology: 150 RILs at F₅ generation were studied at pH 8.4 and EC 7.2 dSm^-1 and collected data on yield and salinity traits. Statistical analysis was performed using PBIB.test, GCV, PCV, heritability and GA as per cent of mean were drawn from variability package of R software.

Results: The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for 12 characters attributed there was significant differences among 150 RILs studied under salinity (P<0.01). The traits ear bearing tillers hill^-1, salinity scoring at reproductive stage, shoot Na⁺/K⁺ ratio at harvesting stage and grain yield per plant (g) exhibited high estimates of GCV, PCV, heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean suggesting additive gene action. While the traits plant survival (%), plant height (cm), panicle length (cm), number of filled grains per panicle, spikelet fertility % and hundred grain weight (g) exhibited moderate PCV and GCV values with high heritability and genetic advance indicating substantial genetic variability for effective selection.

Conclusion: Selecting RILs based on variability traits results in development of salt tolerant high yielding varieties suitable for coastal saline soils.