Chapter 6 - Deciphering Strategies for Salt Stress Tolerance in Rice in the Context of Climate Change

Abstract

Rice is considered as one of the most sensitive crops toward salt stress among different cereals, having a salinity threshold value of 3dSm−1. Salinity stress leads to a significant loss in rice economy affecting almost 20% of the worlds’ total irrigated land. The detrimental effect of salinity on rice production has been further aggravated due to climate change. Thus, to meet the continuously increasing demand for rice, intensive efforts should be directed towards achieving salt stress adaptation in this era of global climate change. Different strategies have been developed for achieving salt stress tolerance in rice. The major strategies include; breeding, marker assisted selection, use of plant growth regulators, genetic engineering, and genome editing. Each of these has proven its potential for solving the problem of salinity in rice. However, a satisfactory solution for achieving salinity tolerance has not been attained until now. This chapter is focused on understanding the different strategies that have been employed to date for achieving salt stress tolerance in rice and various challenges associated with these.