Rice is one of the most important cereal crops and is the staple food for the two-third of world population as well as in Sri Lanka. Rice is a salt–sensitive monocot in the family Poaceae. Currently, salinity is becoming a limiting environmental factor for rice production and it is more prevalent as the intensity of agriculture increases.This experiment was conducted to assess the effects of salinity on the leaf area index, relative water content and yield of selected rice cultivars. The growth of three rice cultivars namely; “Pachaiperumal”, “Bg 370” and “BW 367” was evaluated for salinity tolerance. This experiment was conducted in plastic pots and was laid out in the Completely Randomized Design with two factors in a factorial arrangement. There were six treatments and each one was replicated four times. The leaf area index, relative water content and yield of the tested rice cultivars were significantly reduced by salt stress. Rice Cultivar “Pachaiperumal” showed the highest leaf area index (0.05) and relative water content (70.2%) while cultivar “Bg 370” showed the lowest leaf area index (0.01) and relative water content (48.3%) under saline condition.Salt stress has significantly reduced the yield of all the tested rice cultivars. Rice cultivar “Pachaiperumal” showed the highest yield (1.6 t/ha) and the lowest (0.6 t/ha) was recorded in “BW 367” under salt stressed condition. Hence, “Pachaiperumal’’ was identified as the most salt tolerant rice cultivar among the tested ones which could be suggested for cultivation in the saline tracts of Batticaloa district.

Keywords: BG 370, BW 367, Pachaiperumal, Salt stress