Organic Amendments Improved the Productivity and Bio-Fortification of Fine Rice by Improving Physiological Responses and Nutrient Homeostasis under Salinity Stress

Imran Khan; Sikandar Mahmood; Muhammad Umer Chattha; Muhammad Bilal Chattha; Shahbaz Ahmad; Masood Iqbal Awan; Fatmah M Alqahtani; Mohamed Hashem; Haifa Abdulaziz Sakit Alhaithloul; Sameer H Qari; Faisal Mahmood; Muhammad Umair Hassan

doi:10.3390/plants12081644

Organic Amendments Improved the Productivity and Bio-Fortification of Fine Rice by Improving Physiological Responses and Nutrient Homeostasis under Salinity Stress

Plants (Basel). 2023 Apr 13;12(8):1644. doi: 10.3390/plants12081644.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan.
² Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
³ Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Agronomy, Sub-Campus Depalpur, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Okara 38040, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Biology, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Biology Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Al-Jouf 74331, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Biology, Al-Jumum University College, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Environmental Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan.
⁹ Research Center on Ecological Sciences, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.

Abstract

Salinity stress (SS) is major abiotic stress that is seriously limiting crop production across the globe. The application of organic amendments (OA) mitigate the effects of salinity and improves soil health and crop production on a sustainable basis. However, limited studies are conducted to determine the impact of farmyard manure (FYM) and press mud (PM) on the performance of rice crop. Therefore, we performed this study to determine the impacts of FYM and PM on the growth, physiological and biochemical attributes, yield, and grain bio-fortification of rice crop under SS. The experiment was comprised of SS levels; control, 6 and 12 dS m^-1 SS and OA; control, FYM: 5%, press mud 5% and combination of FYM (5%) + PM (5%). Soil salinity imposed deleterious impacts on the growth, yield, and grain quality of rice, however, OA appreciably offset the deleterious impacts of SS and improved the growth, yield, and grain bio-fortification of rice crop. The combined application of FYM + PM improved the growth and yield of rice through an increase in chlorophyll contents, leaf water contents, anti-oxidant activities (ascorbate peroxidise: APX; catalase: CAT, peroxidise: POD and ascorbic acid: AsA), K⁺ accumulation and decrease in Na⁺/K⁺ ratio, electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), Na⁺ accumulation. Moreover, the combined application of FYM + PM significantly improved the grain protein (5.84% and 12.90%), grain iron (40.95% and 42.37%), and grain zinc contents (36.81% and 50.93%) at 6 and 12 dS m^-1 SS. Therefore, this study suggested that the application of FYM and PM augmented the growth, yield, physiology, biochemistry, and grain bio-fortification of rice and proved to be a good practice for better rice production in salt-affected soils.

Keywords: anti-oxidants; growth; hydrogen peroxide; potassium influx; press-mud; yield.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research, King Khalid University for supporting this work through research groups program under grant number R.G.P. 2/205/44.