Assignment

On
Improvement Of Sub-mergence
Tolerance In Rice: Challenges &
Opportunities
Course No : AGRON 515

Course Title : Stress Agronomy

Submitted To Submitted By
Dr. A K M Mominul Islam Md. Ariful Islam Arif
Professor Ms. in Agriculture (Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy ID No : 20220153
Faculty Of Agriculture Reg No : 44382
Bangladesh Agricultural University Session : 2015-16
Mymensingh- 2202 Semester : October-March (2020-21
Introduction:
Rice is one of the most important crops in the world & also the most advanced crop for breeding
among cereal crops. Generally, rice is grown in lowland & flood- prone areas due to its ability to
survive in semiaquatic environments. To adapt to excess water conditions, rice has developed
specialized anatomical & morphological traits such as aerenchyma, radial oxygen loss barriers,
adventitious roots & leaf gas film formation ability. However, three strategies are insufficient
for survival under continuous complete submergence, which leads to death due to oxygen
starvation. To overcome prolonged submergence, some rice varieties have further developed
additional traits such as aerobic germination, quiescence of leaf elongation in response to flash
flood & internode elongation under periodic flooding. More than 16 million ha of rice lands of
the world in lowland & deep water rice areas are unfavorably affected by flooding due to
complete submergence. Rice is the only crop plant that adapted to aquatic environments
because of its well – developed aerenchyma tissues that facilitate oxygen diffusion through
continuous air spaces from shoot to root & avoid anoxia development in roots. However,
complete submergence due to frequent flooding can adversely affect plant growth & yield.
Submergence tolerant rice varieties should have characteristics that survive well in salinity &
drought condition. It also should have characteristics that grow well in case of presence of
weeds, pests & diseases.

Challenges to improve submergence tolerance in rice:

Two types of flooding cause damage to rice:
 Flash flooding, which results in rapid ascending of water levels with submergence for 1-2
weeks. This type of flooding could also occur after sowing in areas where direct seeding
is practiced & could result in substantial reduction in stand establishment.
 The second type is deep water & floating rice where water depth exceeds 100 cm &
remains at these depths for several months. Plants may become completely submerged
for short periods if flooding is severe. Elongation ability of leaves & internodes are
essential to keep pace with water levels & escape complete submergence.
Problems of floodwater environment in rice cultivation :
Characterization of floodwater environments in most rice growing areas pointed to gas
diffusion as the most important limiting factor under complete submergence. This is
because gas diffusion is much slower in water than air. Oxygen levels in floodwater vary
with location & time of the day, usually below air saturation during the night but may
become super saturated during the day. Anoxia for 24 hours can kill sensitive rice
varieties because of the need of oxygen for respiration to maintain survival & elongation
of growth process.
One important component of survival during submergence is maintenance of carbon
assimilation to supply needed energy for maintenance & growth process.
Carbon assimilation is influenced by several factors during submergence, including
capacity for underwater photosynthesis, carbon di-oxide supply irradiance & temperature
of the floodwater. Carbon dioxide supply may be limiting due to both its lower level
especially stagnant water, & the large boundary layer effect. Carbon assimilation of
submerged rice plants could also be reduced by low irradiance due to water turbidity or
growth of surface algal flocks. Reduction of photosynthesis due to these constraints may
impede carbohydrate supply needed for anaerobic or aerobic respiration.

Problems in genetic improvement of flood-prone rice:

Excess water is common in many rice production areas, ranging from rainfed lowland to
the very deeply flooded areas of the large river basins with uncontrolled floods where
deep water or floating rice is grown

Conditions vary from temporary submergence of 1-10 days which effect both rainfed
lowlands & deep water rice; long periods of standing water or daily tidal fluctuations
that sometime cause complete submergence. Crops grown in these areas are also affected
by adverse soil conditions such as acidity, salinity, minimal toxicity & low fertility.

In deep water(80-100 cm) & floating rice(>100cm) areas, soil & water management is
difficult. For deep water areas where the land is fertile, it could be feasible to double the
 yield with improved varieties. Genetic improvement of floating rice is difficult because
of high energy of fast elongation & may not be a current priority at IRRI.

In submergence prone areas (10-12 days under water) with no major soil problems, yield
can also be doubled with the use of submergence tolerant improved varieties. But
production can be reduced because of infertile soil & occurrence of pests & diseases.
Therefore, in case of submergence tolerant rice varieties, it should be ensured that it
grows well under different soil conditions & survive against insects, pests & diseases.
Therefore, the following traits should be needed in submergence tolerant rice varieties.

 Vegetative vigor: to compete with weeds in both submergence & deep water areas
unless transplanting is practiced in shallow water.
 High tillering ability: some tillers may serve as a energy tanks for survival but should
not be too many especially for elongated rice.
 Erect leaves: Efficient utilization of light better carbon assimilation.
 Longer, wide & thick leaves : Fast coming out of water & efficient utilization of light
for better carbon assimilation.
 Length & weight of panicles: Better yield but with a balance of culm strength.
 High fertility : For better yield & less risks in unfavourable conditions.
 Maturity : Reducing less during harvest & pre/post harvest depending on the climate of
the target environment.
 Photoperiod sensitivity : depends on the climate of the target area
 Hull & grain color: Depends on farmers preference but usually yellow hulls & light
brown grains colors are preferred.
 Awns: May be advantageous when bird damage is expected though, not common.
 Threshability: Too much shattering must be avoided.
 Grain dormancy: Advantageous when lodging or high humidity prevail just before
harvesting.
 Grain quality : Less chalkiness is recommended but grain shape depends on farmers
preference.
 Tolerance to other soil stresses: Depends on target site.
 Tolerance to pest: Depends on prevailing pests in target site.
 Response to inputs: Generally advantageous but may not be practical for deep water
areas, could be useful in flash-flood area.

Future prospects /Opportunity :

Based on previous study on genetics of elongation ability & submergence tolerance, the
number of genetics involved seem to be relatively small, however, breeding for improved
rice varieties with submergence tolerance or elongation ability has been rather slow. This
may be particularly due to the complexity of the environment & the existence of the other
site- specific stresses that are commonly not accounted due to screening. Artificial
screening ponds & rapid generation advancement are necessary to accelerate breeding
efficiency. There is a need to increase the yield of rice in marginal growing regions.
This, among other things, can be achieved by generating rice genotypes which combine
submergence tolerance with tolerance to other environmental stresses conditions &
characteristics grain quality that preferred in the local market. Research has been shown
that early germinating rice varieties with early coleoptile elongation in anaerobic soil
have been recognized & used in breeding programs for direct seeding. The expression of
the mentioned traits in specific development windows can enable its incorporation. In
coastal areas prone to flooding, as a result of tidal waves, it would be beneficial to have
rice that can tolerate saline floodwater. Also, in non- irrigated lowland regions, where
rainfall is the only source of water, growers will benefit from rice which is capable of
tolerating drought. The success in combining submergence tolerance with other qualities
may promote the recognition of other landraces, for which traits will be weathered at
molecular level before getting to the grower's field as improved varieties. It is believed
that with the advancement in plant breeding & innovations in rice germplasm collection,
these challenges will be overcome in due time to meet the increasing global demand for
food
Conclusion :
The mechanism for rice survival under submerged conditions consists of internal aeration
& growth controls. A landmark innovation in the identification of the SUB1 gene has
helped to rapidly develop new rice varieties capable to tolerating flooding. Despite the
aforementioned success, several aspects need to be covered in order to gainfully exploit
the potentials of flood-prone environments for successful rice cultivation. The SUB1
varieties are at risk of disease incidence & other abiotic limitations ; these limitations
must be improved upon through breeding efforts. It is possible to find superior alleles of
SUB1 gene or some newer genes, which may offer better protection under submerged
condition. Additionally, it is important to find more genes that offer tolerance to abiotic
germination & stagnant flooding in order to improve yield stability in the flood-prone
areas. Such attempts can aid in the development of superior high yielding varieties of rice
for a rainfed agro-ecosystem in order to protect against loss which occurs during
persistent flooding of rice fields in the monsoon season. Advances in breeding techniques
are vital for subsequent improvement in submergence tolerance & in combining traits,
particularly disease resistance & salinity & drought tolerance.