The Effect of Saline Irrigation Method on Growth of Rice (Oryza sativa L.

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was carried out to study rice growth under salinity stress in permanently
flooded, Intermittent, and saturated soil condition. The experiment was performed at field station of
Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada located on Bantengan village, Banguntapan,
Bantul, DIY, started from August to November 2015. The treatments were arranged in a four
replicate split-plot randomized completely block design with three irrigation methods occupying the
main plot and two levels of salinity on the subplot. Three irrigation methods were permanent
irrigation (flooded soil), intermittent irrigation (wet/dry soil), and irrigation above field capacity
(saturated soil). Two levels of salinity were fresh water as control treatment (EC  0.3 dS/m) and
saline water with 5 dS/m. From two factors each taking two and three levels, the six combination
treatments in total were then performed in quadruplicate. The result of experiment showed that
interaction between irrigation method and salinity was not found on all observed rice growth
components. Salt stress negatively affected rice growth, included plant height, plant dry weight,
leaf area, and leaf-area ratio (LAR). Irrigation method significantly affected number of tillers on 3
and 9 weeks after planting as well as plant dry weight. Permanent irrigation contributed to the
highest plant growth compared to intermittent irrigation and above field capacity condition.

Keywords : rice (Oryza sativa L.), salinity, and irrigation water.

INTRODUCTION

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a main staple food for Indonesian citizens. Its role is highly
important on economic, social, and political aspect. There are approximately 18 million farmers
cultivating rice as a main commodity. This phenomenon contributes as high as 66% to gross
domestic product (GDP) of field crops. Additionally, rice production contributes to high job
opportunity and income for more than 21 million householders, for 25% to 35% contribution
(Department of Agriculture, 2008). In 2015, Statistical Bureau of Indonesia recorded that rice
production was 75.55 million ton of dry milled rice (the highest value for a decade). Hence, rice is
still considered as a strategic commodity in economy and national food security so that the
development of rice should be put on the top priority by Indonesian government.
Earlier studies from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) predicted that by 2020,
Indonesia will face deficient rice stock with the amount of 8,857,000 ton. This great amount was
calculated based on the national rice need and the condition of irrigation installation (Kurnia, 2001).
Statistical data reported by FAO (2005), up to 50% of irrigated land crucially faced salinity problem,
particularly irrigated paddy field. Every year, hundreds of thousands of irrigated land had been
abandoned due to salinity problem (Abrol, 1986). It is associated to water quality and its impact of
long-term of irrigation practice using saline water with high concentration of salt would enormously

1
generate salt accumulation in plant root zone and inhibit plant growth (Gupta, 1979). Utama (2010)
stated that low rainfall, high evaporation, and unmaintained water management are most factors
affecting the salinity problem at irrigated paddy land.
Irrigation is defined as an effort applied by farmers to water the paddy land using regular
irrigation system that positively supports the physiological process on the whole plant body and
makes nutrients can be more easily absorbed on plant root zone. Generally, farmers are
accustomed to apply the continuous irrigation at their paddy field. While the paddy looked well-
grown on waterlogging condition, it would negatively affect plant condition, especially on rice yield.
According to Dat et al., (2006), permanent irrigation will deplete dissolved oxygen and carbon
dioxide supply. As a consequence, plant growth will be inhibited morphologically and
physiologically. Inefficient irrigation practice may happen through inappropriate irrigation method in
terms of the quantity of water and timing aspect. Related to water management method, therefore,
alternatives are proposed to save water on irrigated paddy field, namely intermittent method and
above field capacity condition. The aim of proposed alternatives is to make a well-aerated soil so
that the soil will sustain under anaerobic condition relatively in short time and more efficient water
use will be obtained.
Irrigation on saline soils determines the plant yield. Irrigation using high saline water which
is accustomed to apply in lowland causes high salt accumulation on soils. Different salinity and
irrigation will give different effect on rice growth. The continuous application of permanent irrigation
with saline water causes soil condition to be anaerobic with high osmotic pressure. Therefore, this
present research is needed to be conducted to study the rice growth under irrigation with saline
water.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The experiment was performed at field station of Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah
Mada located on Bantengan village, Banguntapan, Bantul, DIY, started from August to November
2015.
Materials used were rice cv. ‘Dendang’, mixed fertilizers from super phosphate 36, chloride
potassium, and urea, cow manure, and technical salt. The soil used was Regosols. Field tools
used were bucket, spade, cultivator, sickle, knife, measuring ruler, digital camera, and pen.
Laboratory tools used were analytic weigh, oven, leaf area meter, portable photosynthesis system
LI-6400, leaf color chart, EC meter, microscope, pH meter, nail polish, transparent tape,
preparation glass, beaker glass, reaction tube, measuring glass, and filter paper.

2
 The treatments were arranged in a four replicate split-plot randomized completely block
design with three irrigation methods occupying the main plot and two levels of salinity on the
subplot. Three irrigation methods were permanent irrigation, intermittent irrigation, and irrigation
above field capacity. Permanent irrigation was set with a 5-cm water head every day (flooded soil
condition); intermittent irrigation was set with a 5-cm water head every 5 days (wet/dry soil
condition); and irrigation above field capacity was set so that the field was kept at saturation, moist,
and muddy (saturated soil condition). Meanwhile, two levels of salinity were fresh water as control
treatment (EC  0.3 dS/m) and saline water with 5 dS/m. All treatments applied two weeks after
planting (2 WAP).
The rice growth was observed through plant height, number of tillers, plant dry weight, leaf
area, and leaf area ratio (LAR). The observed values were analyzed statistically using analysis of
variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) was done to compare mean among
treatments ( = 5%).

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Plant Height and Number of Tillers

The plant growth is defined as an irreversible increase in size of cells and plant organs due
to both cell division and enlargement. Plant height and number of tillers are two indicators used to
be observed in a common research. Salisbury and Ross (1995) stated that measurement on plant
height and number of tillers can be done in a nondestructive method. As shown in Table 1, the
irrigation method and salinity treatments were not interacted each other in affecting plant height
and number of tillers. Plant height was not significantly different among irrigation methods on 3, 6,
and 9 WAP. The height of salt-stress plant were shorter than that of untreated (control) plant.
Hardjowigeno and Rayes (2005) reported that rice is a well-adapted plant so that it can be
grown in flooded (fully saturated soil) condition and less-wet field condition. Gribaldi et al., (2014)
stated that the rice treated in flooding condition is suspected to have an adaption ability by
prolonging stem to hinder anaerobic condition (escape strategy). As a short-term (less than 10
days) response to flooding, rice adapted through submergence tolerance mechanism marked by
limiting stem elongation (Mackill et al., 1996). This is in accordance to the result of this present
study, that plant height on generative phase (9 WAP) among permanent irrigation, intermittent
irrigation, and above field capacity condition were not significantly different.
The inhibited growth of salt-stress plant is generally happened. On this current study, the
height of salt-stress plant was significantly decreased compared to that of untreated (control) plant.

3
According to Roechan et al., (1990), the more increased salt concentration absorbed by the rice
plant, the more decreased its height.
Table 1. Plant height and number of tillers on 3, 6, and 9 WAP under irrigation and salinity
treatments
Plant height (cm) Number of tillers
Treatments
3 WAP 6 WAP 9 WAP 3 WAP 6 WAP 9 WAP
Irrigation
Permanent 22.73 a 41.79 a 63.84 a 4.38 a 16.88 a 29.88 a
Intermittent 23.73 a 42.28 a 63.00 a 4.88 a 14.63 a 22.75 b
Above field capacity 24.25 a 41.38 a 61.55 a 3.75 b 16.13 a 25.75 ab
Salinity
Saline 20.33 b 35.26 b 53.17 b 4.25 a 14.42 a 25.00 a
Control 26.81 a 48.37 a 72.43 a 4.42 a 17.33 a 27.25 a
Interaction (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-)
CV % 9.61 18.30 4.21 18.45 24.41 15.90
Note: Mean values followed by similar letters were not significantly different according to DMRT
(=5%). Sign (-) showed that there was not interaction between both factors.

The number of tillers among irrigation treatments were not different as well as that among
salinity treatments on 6 WAP (Table 1). The number of tillers treated with above-field capacity
condition was less compared to permanent and intermittent irrigation on 3 WAP. However, the
number of tillers treated with intermittent irrigation was less than that treated with permanent
irrigation on 9 WAP. The growing period of 3 WAP was the vegetative phase, where the
intermittent irrigation was adequately support the plant water requirement so that tiller formation
was actively occurred. On 9 WAP when the plant enter generative phase, the plant required more
water to elongate its stem. When the plant had done with the tiller formation, the stem elongation
and spikelet formation was occurred afterwards. Inadequate water supply can limit the nutrient
transportation and decrease photosynthetic activity as well. Consequently, permanent irrigation
needs to be applied on generative period. As in line with the previous study conducted by Suryanto
(2013), number of tillers on drying period for 5 days resulted more number of tillers and it would
decrease in specific period so that flooding was needed to be done. Siregar (1981) evaluated that
the most supporting thickness of water layer on soil surface ranges from 5 to 7.5 cm. If the depth of
water flooded on field was higher than the abovementioned range, the soil temperature would
decrease. The decreased soil temperature would therefore constrain tiller formation.
Earlier studies had reported generally that significant effect was found on number of tillers
under salinity stress. In fact, salinity stress did not significantly affected the number of tillers in this
present study. It is suspected that the treated plants was able, to some extent, to tolerate and
retain the high osmotic pressure with high salt concentration in rhizosphere. The plant was also
able to adapt to increasing salinity by decreasing the internal water loss so high that the water

4
potential of cell caused the plant cell would remain turgid. According to Jiang et al. (2007), the
tillering stage was less sensitive to salinity stress even though the decrease in number of tillers
occurred.

Plant Dry Weight, Leaf Area, and Leaf Area Ratio (LAR)

The irrigation method and salinity treatments were not interacted each other in affecting
plant dry weight, leaf area, and leaf area ratio (LAR) (Table 2). The dry weight of plant treated with
permanent irrigation was higher compared to other treatments, while that of treated with above
field capacity was the lowest one. Both dry weight, leaf area, and leaf area ratio (LAR) of salt-
treated plant was significantly lower than both of control plant.
The permanent irrigation increased the plant dry weight. It is suspected that the treatment
yielded more number of tillers, thus, produced more biomass. The level of water irrigated as high
as 5 cm might be considered as suitable environment for plant growth, which thence both water
and nutrient were more available compared to other irrigation treatments. The water availability on
root zone will significantly influence the plant growth and development. The plant growth can be
measured from the dry weight. Plant dry weight is defined as total biomass which is resulted from
metabolism process on the whole plant body. According to Gardner et al., (1991), plant biomass is
obtained from photosynthesis yield and absorption of nutrient and water, where later on, 90% of
photosynthesis yield expressed as dry weight (Dat et al., 2006).
Table 2. Plant dry weight, Leaf Area, and Leaf Area Ratio (LAR) on 7 WAP under irrigation and
salinity treatments
Plant Dry Weight Leaf Area LAR
Treatments 2
(g) (cm ) (dm2/g)
Irrigation
Permanent 27.02 a 718.13 a 372.57 a
Intermittent 20.06 ab 609.63 a 314.84 a
Above Field Capacity 16.30 c 560.50 a 288.40 a
Salinity
Saline 17.20 b 536.42 b 276.81 b
Control 25.05 a 722.42 a 373.73 a
Interaction (-) (-) (-)
CV % 22.41 13.93 13.72
Note: Mean values followed by similar letters were not significantly different by DMRT (=5%).
Sign (-) showed that there was not interaction between both factors.

A leaf is a main organ that plays role as a photosynthetic organ which produces assimilate.
The ability of plant doing photosynthesis was determined by leaf area (Gardner et al., 1991). The
water availability is one of abiotic stresses which is able to decrease the plant growth and

5
development. Statistically, all irrigation treatments did not affected leaf area and leaf area ratio
(LAR). It is suspected that under all irrigation methods, there was still adequate water supply to
support the photosynthesis and nutrient movement through cell wall and cell tissue so that as long
as the cell remained turgid, the stability of leaf form and the process of stomatal opening and
closing would perform. Leaf area and leaf number become the determining factors of growth rate
of plant, whereas leaf area ratio (LAR) expresses the total one-sided area of photosynthetic tissue
per unit ground surface area in which leaf enlargement is supported by assimilate translocation
(Gardner et al., 1991). According to Cheeta (2011), plant cannot live without water since water is a
main factor affecting plant physiological process, for example supporting the stability of leaf
structure and from.
In this present study, the significant decrease in dry weight, leaf area, and leaf area ratio
(LAR) was found in the salt-stress plant. The low value of dry weight was suspected to be occurred
due to the decreased cell enlargement and division. As a result, the plant biomass was also
reduced. According to Lubis (2008), the more increased NaCl concentration caused the absorption
of Na+ and Cl- occurred in plant tissue will interfere plant metabolism. Salinity is negatively
associated to leaf area. The more salinity concentration, the less water loss though transpiration.
Consequently, the decreased leaf area is followed by the increased respiration rate. Yuniati (2004)
explained that leaf area expansion can be decreased by salinity stress because of the decreased
cell turgor pressure. Furthermore, it will affect photosynthetic rate by decreasing the leaf quality
and quantity. As a result, the assimilate content will decrease. As a result of high salt level in soil,
the photosynthesis was inhibited and, thus, negatively affected leaf area ratio (LAR). The decrease
in photosynthesis was due to the high salt accumulation in mesophyll tissue and the increase in
CO2 concentration within cell which caused smaller stomatal aperture. Shereen et al., (2005)
found that with an increase in salt concentration of the soil, the osmotic pressure of the soil
solution increased and the water and nutrient uptake was inhibited.

CONCLUSION

The result of experiment showed that interaction between irrigation method and salinity was
not found on all observed rice growth components. Salt stress negatively affected rice growth,
included plant height, plant dry weight, leaf area, and leaf area ratio (LAR). Irrigation method
significantly affected number of tillers on 3 and 9 weeks after planting as well as plant dry weight.
Permanent irrigation contributed to the highest plant growth compared to intermittent irrigation and
above field capacity condition.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

6
We thank flagship research for agricultural faculty universitas gadjah mada for financial support.

REFERENCES

Abrol, I. P. 1986. Salt-Affected Soils: Problems and Prospects in Developing Countries. In: Global
Aspects of Food Production. P: 283-305 M.S. Swaminathan and S.K. Sinha (Eds.). Tycooly
International Riverton, New Jersey-United States.

Cheeta. 2011. Air sebagai Sumber Kehidupan. http://cheeta-cheetahz.

Dat, J. F., C. Parent, N. Capelli, A. Breger, and M. Crevecoeur. 2006. Sensing and signaling during
plant flooding. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 42 : 273 -282.

Departemen pertanian, 2008. Panduan Pelaksanaan Sekolah Lapang Pengelolaan Tanaman

FAO. 2005. Global network on integrated soil management for sustainable use of salt-affected
soils. Rome, Italy; FAO Land and plant Nutr. Manag. Service.

Gardner, F.P., R.B. Pearce dan R. L. Mitchell. 1991. Fisiologi Tanaman Budidaya. Penerjemah : H.
Susilo. Universitas Indonesia Press. Jakarta. Hal. 112-113.

Gribaldi, R.A. Suwignyo, M. Hasmeda, and R. Hayati. 2014. Pengaruh pemupukan terhadao
perubahan morfofisiologi dan varietas padi pada kondisi cekaman rendama. J. Agron.
Indonesia 42(1):17-23.

Gupta, I.C. 1979. (I)Use of Saline Water in Agriculture in Arid and Semi-arid Zones of India(/I).
Oxford & IBH Publishing. New Delhi. India.

Hardjowigeno, S. 2004. Ilmu Tanah. Akademika Pressindo. Jakarta. 286 hal.

Kurnia, G. 2001. Efisiensi air irigasi untuk memperluas areal tanam Dalam F. Agus (Ed). Prosiding
seminar nasional multifungsi lahan sawah. Bogor, 1 Mei 2001. Kerja sama pusat penelitian
dan pengembangan tanah dan agroklimat, MAFF Jepang dan Sekretariat ASEAN, Bogor.
Hlm. 137-142.

Lubis, M. S. 2008. Pertumbuhan dan Kandungan Protein Jagung di bawah Cekaman NaCl .
Jurusan Pendidikan Biologi. Yogyakarta.

Mackill, D.J., W.R. Coffman and D.P. Garrity. 1996. Rainfed Lowland Rice Improvement. IRRI.
Manila. 242 p.
Roechan, S., G. Soepardi, L.I. Nasution and M. Ismunadji. 1990. Peningkatan Produksi Lahan
Sawah Berkadar Garam Tinggi. Penelitian Pertanian 10(1): 27-35.

Salisbury, F. B and Ross, C. W. 1995. Plant Physiology. Fourth Edition. Wadsworth Publishing
Company. California.

7
Shereen, A., Mumtaz, S. Reza, S. Khan M.A. Solangi, S. 2005. Salinity Effect on Seedling Growth
and Yield Components of Different Inbred Rice Lines. Journal Botany, 37 (1).

Siregar, H. 1981. Budidaya Tanaman Padi di Indonesia. Sastra Hudaya. Jakarta. 320 hal.
Suryanto. 2013. Pertumbuhan, hasil dan indeks sensivitas tanaman padi terhadap cekaman
genangan air. Seminar Nasional Serelia: 169-180.

Utama, M.Z.H. 2010. Effect of NaCl-Stress on Metabolism of NO3-, NH4+ and NO2- at Several
Rice Varietas. J. Trop Soils. 15 (3): 189-194. Doi: 10.5400/jts.2010.15.3.189.

Yuniati, R. 2004. Penapisan galur kedelai Glycine max (l.) Merrill toleran terhadap NaCl untuk
penanaman di lahan salin. Makala Sains 1.