Growth and Yield of Some Wetland Rice Varieties Treated with Microbial Consortium under Washed Saline Soil Conditions

Saline land is suboptimal land with a high electrical conductivity that can inhibit the growth and production of rice plants. The objectives of the study were to determine 1) changes in the electrical conductivity value of saline soil before and after washing and 2) the growth and yield of rice plants grown on washed saline soil media with the application of microbial consortium and their interactions. The study used a Randomized complete block design with two factors and three replications. The first factor was a microbial consortium consisting of four microbial consortiums, and the second factor was rice variety consisting of three varieties e.i. Pokalli, Biosalin 2 Agritan and IR29. Result showed that washing saline soil with fresh water decreased electrical conductivity from 17 dS m-1 to 2.18 dS m-1. The Pokkali variety had the highest plant, height biomass components, but the IR29 had the highest number of productive tillers. Microbial consortium B gave the best effect on the variable of the number of empty grains per clump, percentage of open grains, and dry weight of grain per clump. There was no interaction between growth components, plant biomass, and N, P, K, and Na levels. The pokkali variety contains low levels of K and Na in the roots, but high in the shoot, while the IR29 variety has high levels of K and Na in the roots, but low in the shoot. The best results in the variable number of filled grains per clump and grain dry weight per clump were shown by the microbial consortium C treatment and the Biosalin 2 Agritan variety.