ISSN 2375-1266
African Journal of Environmental and Waste Management ISSN 2375-1266 Vol. 12 (3), pp. 001-006, March, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Impact of Organic Pollutants on Spikelet Formation and Fertility in NERICA Rice Varieties
Falodun D*, Njoku K. L., Ogunyebi A. L. and Akinola M. O.
Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria.
Accepted 03 September, 2024
Rice plants with relatively high tolerance to organic pollution will be of great interest to crop producers. Therefore, ability of three NERICA rice varieties (Mecux, Tox and WitA.4) to grow and reproduce in petroleum polluted soils was investigated. The rice plants were grown for 120 days on soil contaminated with organic pollutants mixture (fresh diesel, gasoline and spent engine oil). Thereafter, each variety was analyzed based on its ability to produce panicles, spikelets and fertile spikelets. Numbers of filled spikelets were mostly affected, for instance; Mecux, Tox and WitA.4 numbers of filled spikelets were significantly reduced when compared with the control at P < 0.01, P < 0.001 and P < 0.0001. It seems that exposure of rice seedlings to organic xenobiotics has some relationships with agronomic characteristics, especially spikelet filling, although there were no significant reductions in percentage spikelet fertility of all the three varieties of the NERICA rice. The analysis in this study strongly reinforced the pertinence of enforcing environmental regulations and equally looking for food crops that can withstand organic xenobiotics thereby increasing yield potentials.
Keywords: Panicle number, spikelet fertility, NERICA rice, grain filling, petroleum, flag leaf area.