Abstract

This study was aimed at investigating the morphological responses of rice landraces in Nigeria savanna zones to flash flooding and deep water submergence. The rice landraces were obtained from local farmers across the savanna region. Submergence tolerant checks were obtained from AfricaRice and served as control. The research was conducted at the Botanical Garden, Department of Botany, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. The rice landraces were sown in 1.54 m2 labelled polythene bags containing 3.5 kg of surface loamy soil. The seedlings were maintained using standard cultural practices. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with two replicates. Thirty-day old seedlings were submerged in a plastic tanks of 1000 L capacity at a water depth of 100 cm for a period of 14 and 30 days. Growth parameters were recorded following the protocol of the International Rice Research Institute. The result obtained was statistically significant (p˂0.05). Highest percentage variance under flash flood are: number of panicles(10.50%), number of leaves (30.43%), number of tillers (15.91%), stem elongation (80%), days to maturity (8.15%), leaf length (7.1%), leaf width (4.18%), hundred-seed weight (2.8%) and yield (15.72%). Highest values for agronomic traits obtained under deep water submergence are: elongation (3.0-71.50 cm), number of leaves (35.0), number of tillers (4.0), days to maturity (118 days), hundred-seed weight (2.60 g) and yield (34.74 kg/ha). Landraces Fijo (15.72 kg/ha) and Jamila-Plt (22.08 kg/ha) with high yield could be used by farmers in flood prone areas for increased production. Breeders could also exploit these genotypes as a source of submergence tolerance gene.