Abstract:
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is wetland crop that is the major food source in Sri
Lanka. However, rice crop performance is decrease due to the flood-prone
areas and submergence affect poor rates of germination, which has a
substantial impact on direct rice seed. Hence, the present study was carried
out to evaluate & development of the performance of seed treatments
techniques in withstand submergence conditions. Here, four rice varieties
were coated with Alginate and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) and primed
with Gibberellic Acid, Ascorbic Acid & Calcium Chloride (CaCl2). Fivedays-old seedlings were completely submerged 1m height in tank for 6,12,
and 14 days which arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD)
with three replicates. The results showed that the germination, morphological
characteristics of rice plants were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the
treatments. The germination indicates were significantly higher in Ld 368
and Bw 372 non treated seeds compared to coated & primed seeds. The
highest survival percentage (100%) showed by Ld 376 & Bw 372 with CaCl2
and Ld 368 with SLS survival percentage at 10th day recovery. The highest
Shoot Elongation recorded Gibberellic Acid 80 ppm seeds under 14 Days
submergence conditions. Vigor Index was higher in Ascorbic Acid 50 ppm
treatment rather than the non-treated seeds, whereas Alginate & CaCl2
observed the highest root shoot ratio among the Seed treatment agents seeds
under 6 & 12Days submergence conditions. Thereby, seeds treatments with
four rice varieties enabled successful to withstand complete submergence
compared to control treatments.
