Improving Rice Yield in Saline Soils: The Role of Salicylic Acid in Mitigating Stress

Abstract

A field experiment was executed at a farmer's field in Saronkhola, Bagerhat, during the Boro season of the consecutive years 2023 and 2024 to examine the role of Salicylic Acid (SA) in rice adaptation to salinity stress, assess the effects of SA on the growth, yield, and yield-contributing traits of rice in saline-prone areas, and ascertain the optimal concentration of salicylic acid for enhancing rice productivity in saline environments. The application of SA has been noticed to be very effective in alleviating the adverse effects of salinity stress on rice using Binadhan-10 as the test variety. The study employed a range of SA concentrations: T0 (control), T1 (0.5 mM), T2 (1 mM), T3 (1.5 mM), T4 (2 mM), T5 (2.5 mM), T6 (3 mM), and T7 (3.5 mM). Salicylic acid was sprayed on the rice plants during the vegetative growth stage at 30 and 60 days after transplanting (DAS). Data on yield and yield components were recorded at harvest and analyzed statistically, with means compared using LSD. Results indicated that a 1.5 mM concentration of salicylic acid, applied twice during the active tillering stage and the reproductive stage, resulted in the highest statistically significant seed yield of 6.48 t ha⁻¹, followed by 2.5 mM SA, which yielded 6.27 t ha⁻¹. Additionally, the peak salinity level of the experimental field soil was recorded at 9.5 dS/m² on April 20. These findings suggest that salicylic acid can effectively enhance rice yield, particularly under saline conditions.