Induced mutagenesis in rice (Oryza sativa L.) for improving salt tolerance

The study was undertaken to induce variability, through gamma irradiation, in Pokkali and Improved White Ponni for seven yield and its component traits under salt stress. It was observed that mutagenic treatments generated substantial magnitude of genetic variability for all characters and influenced the mean, range and coefficient of variation independently in both the varieties. Coefficient of variation was high for spikelet sterility at 200Gy in Pokkali, while it was high for single plant yield and panicle weight at 300Gy. In Improved White Ponni, the coefficient of variation was high in 200Gy for single plant yield, while sterility was high at 300Gy. The coefficient of variation was equal in both the doses for panicle weight.