Abstrak/Abstract |
Background and Objective: Black rice, ‘Sembada Hitam’, has become popular as a functional food because it contains anthocyanin and other minerals. Salicylic acid (SA) can sustain plants and help them grow better under environmental stresses, including salinity. This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of SA applied as seed priming on the germination and early seedling growth of rice under salinity.
Methodology: The design of this experiment was 4 × 4 factorial in a completely randomized design. The first factor was levels of the NaCl, namely 0 (control), 50, 100, and 150 mM. The second factor was different levels of SA, namely 0 (control), 0.5, 1, and 2 mM. The rice seeds were soaked in SA for 24 hours, and then placed in a medium containing NaCl. Twenty rice seeds were germinated with three replicates. Seed germination was monitored daily for a week, germination rate index (GRI), number of roots, root length, shoot length, fresh weight, dry weight, and seedling vigor index (SVI) were determined on the 15th day.
Main Results: The results revealed that salinity inhibited seed germination and seedling growth. The elevated concentrations of NaCl caused the lower germination percentage (GP) and the early growth of seedlings. The adverse effects of salinity were ameliorated in those seeds primed with SA. Seed primed with 0.5 mM SA showed the highest GP under 100 mM NaCl of 80 ± 2.53% (P < 0.001). While 1 mM of SA under 50 mM NaCl possesses the highest shoot length (13.63 ± 0.12 cm; P < 0.001) and fresh weight (86 ± 0.001 mg; P < 0.001). Primed with 2 mM SA under 150 mM NaCl had a lower GP of 28.33 ± 7.64% than those primed with SA of 0.5 mM or 1 mM with GP of 45 ± 5% and 43.33 ± 7.64%, respectively.
Conclusions: Seeds priming with 1 mM SA positively affected germination and early seedling growth of
‘Sembada Hitam’ black rice subjected to salinity and it is recommended as an appropriate concentration for ameliorating adverse effects of salinity. |