Drought tolerance evaluation of Chiang Phatthalung and Sang Yod Phatthalung rice varieties at the seedling stage

Abstract

Almost all of the area under the native southern Thailand rice cultivation is irrigated completely by rain. An increasing trend towards drought conditions has been observed globally. Therefore, the desirable characteristics for drought adaptability are essential in native southern Thailand rice varieties. The objective of this study was to screen drought tolerance at seedling stage. The two native southern Thailand rice varieties including the two control varieties were grown under greenhouse condition at faculty of Agricultural Technology, Songkhla Rajabhat University. A randomize complete block design (RCBD) was used with four replications. The leaf rolling, leaf unrolling, leaf drying drought recovery and root length were recorded. The results showed a highly significant in all traits. Chiang Phatthalung revealed a higher ability of drought tolerance because the level scores of leaf rolling, leaf unrolling, leaf drying and drought recovery were less than Sang Yod Phattalung. Furthermore, Chiang Phatthalung had significantly greater root length than the roots of Sang Yod Phattalung. Correlation analysis showed leaf rolling was significantly positively correlated to leaf unrolling, leaf drying and drought recovery, while root length was significantly negatively correlated to leaf rolling, leaf unrolling, leaf drying and drought recovery.