Performance of Main and Ratoon Crop for Boro Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in A Saline Soil of Southwest Coastal Region of Bangladesh.

Purpose: Rice is an important source of carbohydrates to feed 9.7 billion people by 2050 and its productivity is adversely affected by salinity as a result of climate change. Ratooning after Boro rice (Oryza sativa L.) increases rice production at a low cost. This led to the carrying out of a field experiment in the saline soil of Batiaghata Upazila under the Khulna district of Bangladesh to investigate the performance of 1^st and 2^nd crops of five different rice varieties (BRRI dhan28, ACI hybrid dhan 6, KBP 1, BRRI dhan67 and Aftab LP 70). Research Method: Three cutting height variations (20 cm, 30 cm, and 40 cm height from the soil surface level) of the second crop were introduced in this experiment which was conducted in RCB design with three replications. Findings: Plant height, leaf area, biological yield, HI, total grains panicle^-1, and filled grains panicle^-1 were significantly (p≤0.05) higher for the KBP 1 rice variety for the 1st crop. On the other hand, leaves hill^-1, number of tillers hill^-1, panicles hill^-1, grain yield, straw yield, and 1000 grains weight were significantly (p≤0.05) higher for Aftab LP 70 rice cultivar. In the 2^nd crop, the plants died within 30 days after 1st harvesting due to the increased salinity. Research Limitations: The result revealed that ratooning of rice can be possible in non-saline soil where available water is present otherwise it’s not possible in high-saline soil as well as water deficit areas. Originality/ Value: The results of this experiment, suggested that KBP 1 or Aftab LP 70 perform better in terms of production of rice than the other varieties and rice ratooning is possible in the saline soil condition of the southwest coastal Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]