Enhancing Salinity Tolerance in 18 Local Rice Varieties from West Kalimantan throughBiopriming with Biological Agents

Saline land has the potential for developing rice plants in Indonesia.High salt content causes a decrease in water availability for plants, damages leaves, and limits nutrient absorption.The use of biological agents is expected to increase the growth and yield of rice plants on saline land.This study aimed to evaluate the response of 18 local rice genotypes from West Kalimantan, Indonesia, to biopriming with a biological agent (WH3.1Cisolate) under salinity stress.The experiment was conducted in two phases: the germination and seedling growth stages.A Randomized Block Design (RBD) was employed, with salinity levels as the main plot treatments (0 ppm, 4000 ppm NaCl, and 4000 ppm NaCl + WH3.1C isolate) and rice genotypes as subplots.The 18 genotypes comprised 10 black rice, 3 red rice, and 5 white rice varieties.The results of the research showed that genotypes of local rice showed different growth responses to 4000ppm NaCl.Application of WH3.1C isolate to water culture media that had previously been subjected to 4000ppm NaCl gave growth of rice that was not different from rice that were not subjected to salinity stress.The percentage of wet weight of root Banyuwangi Merah and Gula Hitam seedlings increased after being treated with the WH31.C isolate.Black Sugar rice also showed a percentage increase in root dry weight.This was suggested that WH3.1C isolate had capability to minimize the impact of salinity on the 18 local rice seedlings tested.