The Use of Neutron Radiography Technique For Rapid Detection of The Rice Plant Tolerance Against Drought Stress

Abstract:

The use of neutron radiography technique for rapid detection of rice plant tolerance againt drought stress has been done. Two different species of rice have been selectd as research objects.

Gogo rice plant which is known to be more tolerant against drought stress compared with the sawah rice is observed through its rood grounth after being drought stressed by reducing the water content up to 50 and 25%. The root growth was observed at the 2, 3, 4 and 10 weeks after germination. In-situ observation using neutron radioraphy facility, RNI at the RSG-GAS reactor reveals that at the age of 4 weeks and less the root was not able to observe and it can be observed clearly at the age of 10 weeks. The preliminary result shows that the gogo rice is evident to be more tolerant than sawah rice with larger root profile and it servives from the drought stress. this result shows that the neutron radiography technique can be used as an alternative method to detect the rice plant tolerance against drought stress.

Keyword: neutron radiography, drought stress, gogo rice, sawah rice

Sutiarso1), Miftahudin2), Sairun1), Juliyani1), Setiawan1), Fahrurrozi1)

1)Pusat Teknologi Bahan Industri uklir-Batan; Gd.40 Kawasan Puspiptek Serpong Tangerang-Banten 15313

2)Jurusan Biologi-Institut Pertanian Bogor; Jl. Darmaga Kampus IPB-Bogor