Consequences of Arsenate Exposure on Important Yield-Associated Traits of Rice (Oryza Sativa L.)

A pot experiment under simulated arsenic (As) condition with different doses of arsenate (AsV) [4, 8, 12 mg l-1 and control] was done on four popular rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties viz. Triguna, IR 36, PNR 519 and IET 4786 (Satabdi) to find out the grain As levels and changes of other phenotypes / physiological characteristics. With the increase of AsV concentration in soil, the number of tillers increased in Triguna and IR 36 up to 8 mg l-1 while PNR 519 and IET 4786 (Satabdi) exhibited a less number of tillers when exposed to different doses of AsV concentration. The average plant height of these varieties also showed a similar trend and it increased up to 4 mg l-1 in Triguna and IR 36 and IET 4786 (Satabdi) but PNR 519 was found inhibitory. In contrast, seed weight of all the varieties was found to have increased with the increase in concentration AsV upto 8 mg l-1. In general, AsV exposure had led to early flowering in rice cultivars and consequently early seed maturity in almost all the cultivars.