User talk:Heshashidhar

Methodologies for root drought studies in rice
Shashidhar H E 04:24, 23 May 2013 (UTC)Root biology is the forefront of progressing fields to improve agricultural productivity in low-input systems. Although there is a strong case for the role of roots in plant performance under drought stress, appropriate methods for evaluating them in relation to performance under drought (particularly in rice) are less clear-cut. There is also a strong need for advances in phenotyping to match the rapid progress in genotyping and breeding of rice. Since rice research has historically emphasized Irrigated environments, and because of the difficulties associated with studying roots, large gaps exist in our knowledge about root traits for drought-resistance rice. The focus of this article is the description of relatively high-throughput, low cast, and precise root phenotyping techniques, adopted by researchers across the world, that have been developed for drought studies on rice. Field phenotyping protocols for root studies in precise drought-stress treatments, as well as a range of root phenotyping systems, are described. Protocols to associate root traits with other plant traits and productivity are also included.

This article was developed with the viewpoint that characterizing rice root responses to drought will help to empower rice researchers to screen for root traits in local germplasm, and to realize the huge genetic potential of rice for root traits that can be effective for drought resistance.

Shashidhar HE,Henry A,Hardy B,editors. 2012.Methodologies for root drought studies in rice.Los Baños (Philippines):International Rice Research Institute.65 p.