SCREENING OF RICE GERMPLASM AGAINST DROUGHT STRESS USING MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS

Oryza sativa L. is a staple diet for billions of people in the world. Different rice varieties' drought stress responses and their effects on both qualitative and quantitative variables. Rice is the second main exportable product of Pakistan and the agriculture sector has shown remarkable growth, with the crop sector posting a growth of 6.58% in Fiscal year 2022. Drought have a bad effect on the vegetative and reproductive stages of crops. Drought stress can reduce crop yield production. The RCBD design, two-way ANOVA factorial analysis, Tukey test, Genetic advance and Heritability were used for this experiment. This study specifically focuses on the response of rice genotypes to drought stress and its effect on morphological parameters such as plant height, panicle length, stem diameter, flag leaf length and width, number of panicles per plant, and 1000-grain weight. Drought tolerance genotypes were screened out and used to the standard Index of IRRI to identify morphological processing in Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku, Pakistan. Total 35 rice genotypes were sown under drought stress with checked variety. Six varieties perform better production under drought stress conditions. These varieties like Pokkoli, Vehari, Nonabokra, Kalomonk, PK10683, and Basmati 375 show better perform under drought stress. The findings of this research can contribute to the development of drought-tolerant rice varieties and enhance food security in drought-prone areas. The importance of qualitative parameters, such as panicle curvature and awning, is also explored, with potential implications for the visual appearance and market preferences of rice grains. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the genetic basis and potential breeding strategies for improving drought tolerance in rice.