BHUBANESWAR : A new salinity tolerant paddy variety developed by an Odia agricultural scientist at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Los Banos in Philippines on Monday. The Prime Minister is in the island country for the ASEAN summit. The paddy variety that can survive in saline soil under 260 mM concentration of salt at seedling stage and 180 mM concentration of salt at reproductive stage has been developed by Principal Scientist of IRRI Kshirod Jena. Jena used a brackish water wild rice Oryza coarctata (a halophyte) that is found in Odisha and West Bengal coast.
Jena, a plant breeder, has come up with the salt tolerant variety by transferring novel salt tolerance genes from the wild rice for the first time in the world. The breeding lines of the rice has been tested in sea water irrigated rice fields at Ilo Ilo in Philippines. The plants are highly fertile under salt stress and the yield is normal.“I have used innovative strategies and transferred genes into rice. It can survive at two per cent NaCl and produce good yield under salt stress. The variety has been field tested in Philippines and it will be tested in Indian conditions next year,” Jena said in an e-mail conversation.
Since about 20 per cent of rice area (about seven million hectares) is affected by salinity that covers coastal saline area as well as inland saline areas, the researchers believe the salt tolerant variety can increase rice production six fold from 0.6 tonne per hectare to more than four tonne per hectare.
“Normal rice, which is a glycophyte, can survive only at 40 mM concentration of sodium chloride. I have used novel genomics tools and chromosome engineering to develop the rice variety. I transferred salt tolerance genes from this species into cultivated rice which is a first-of-its-kind research work,” Jena claimed.
Other salt tolerant rice varieties developed by IRRI are from traditional salt tolerant varieties - Pokkali and Nona Bokra - whose salt tolerance level is moderate. These varieties can survive at 100 mM concentration of salt. But the salt tolerant varieties would give better yield.A native of Nikirai village in Kendrapara district, Jena has done MSc from Utkal University with specialisation in Cytogenetics. “It was a great opportunity for me to explain the benefits of salt tolerant rice and our ongoing researches to the Prime Minister,” he added.
After his visit to IRRI, Modi tweeted: “Salinity tolerant rice varieties will help farmers where the soil is saline, for example Kutch. I also saw a drought tolerant rice variety that can help farmers in times of droughts.”