The effects of nanosilicon on morphological and biochemical characteristics of rice cultivars (Oryza sativa L.) at flowering stage in saline paddies

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is important staple food of Asia. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of nanosilicon solution (6 g L-1) on salinity tolerance of three varieties of Tarommahalli, Tolerant FL478 and Barekat rice in saline paddy (EC=5-8) at flowering stage in order to study their morphological and biochemical traits. The experiment was conducted in 2020 and 2021 in the form of factorial design on a completely random basis with three replications in Mazandaran province in Iran. The results showed that nanosilicon solution caused height of plant to be decreased (138.83 cm) and increased diameter of the root crown (10.17 cm) of the Tarommahalli grown in saline paddy compared to other varieties, compared to control (Tarommahalli grown in non-saline paddy) and to salinity (Tarommahalli grown in saline paddy). The dry weight of shoot and root (88.04 and 7.075 g respectively) were increased compared to the control (P≤0.05). In treated Tarommahalli, the amount of proline (0.584 mg g-1 (FW)) and SOD, CAT, POD, and PPO (0.536 % ml-1 mg-1 g (FW), 1.184, 18.06 and 388.18 µmol min-1 mg-1 protein respectively) significantly increased but the amount of H2O2 (0.160 μmol g-1 (FW)) and MDA (0.004 μmol g-1 (FW) significantly decreased. The results showed that the application of nanosilicon solution effected on height of plant to be reduced and also increased strengthen of Tarommahalli rice againt salinity which was facilitated rice harvesting.