Phosphorus Effect on Growth, Biochemical Changes and Yield of Rice Plant during Submergence

An experiment was conducted to see the influence of phosphorus during submergence of rice at experimental site of Department of Crop Physiology, N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad, UP, India. The two rice varieties i.e. FR13A (submergence tolerance) and Mahsuri (submergence susceptible) were exposed to seven days continuous complete submergence to 30 days of old seedling with different doses of phosphorus. Plant height, shoot dry weight, starch content, SOD activity and grain yield significantly reduced during submergence in both varieties irrespective of phosphorus treatment. Among the different levels, 80 kg P₂O₅ha^-1 phosphoruswas found more effective during submergence. As it sustained the growth and yield by increasing the shoot dry matter, starch content, and SOD activity of rice during submergence. The response of phosphorus was more significant in FR13A than Mahsuri. Therefore, the optimum phosphorus content in plant maintained growth activity by mitigating the adverse environmental effect under submergence condition.