Plant Science Research, Vol. 45, 2023

Traditional rice cultivars grown in Hirakud dam reservoir: Source of submergence tolerance gene under waterlogged environments

In view of the recent climate change scenario which is responsible for creation of multitude of abiotic stresses, development of stress tolerant/resistant crop genotypes is of immense significance for sustainable crop production under stress-prone ecosystems. Submergence or waterlogging is such a harmful abiotic stress factor which can have an adverse influence on rice crop throughout the growing season leading to severe yield losses to the farmers. Hirakud dam reservoir is a man-made water body where water accumulates during the rainy season leading to submergence which is unsuitable for cultivation of any crop and making large land masses unproductive. However, the local farmers live in the embankment areas of the dam reservoir cultivate a large number of submergence tolerant traditional rice varieties exhibiting a lot of variations in their stress resistance mechanisms. Though a huge diversity of traditional rice varieties are cultivated in the dam reservoir, no systematic study on identification of submergence tolerant genes have been carried out. Thus, a proper scientific investigation on this rice diversity will definitely be helpful in providing a source of rich gene pool to develop submergence-tolerant rice genotypes for exploitation of large water bodies for sustainable rice cultivation and making them agro-ecologically productive.