Rice production under saline conditions using seedlings produced with and without saline stress

Abstract This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of salinity of irrigation water on growth and production of rice, cultivar Formoso. The experiment was conducted in protected ambient consisting of 5 levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (ECw: 1.0; 2.0; 3.0; 4.0 and 5.0 dS m-1 at 25 °C) and two types of seedlings (grown with water of 0.5 and 8.5 dS m-1). A completely randomized design was used in a factorial scheme (5 x 2) with 3 replications. All the studied variables were affected by salinity, but the type of seedling only affected number of tillers and evapotranspiration; no interactive effect for the two factors was verified. The growth and production indices were affected linearly by salinity levels, with reduction of 7.7% in grain yield with unit increase of ECw; the plants originated from seedlings formed under saline conditions were acclimatized to salinity stress without any subsequent effect on grain production.