INDICATIVE TRAITS OF ALUMINUM SENSIBILITY IN RICE - II - CANONICAL CORRELATION WITH YIELD

As a step in the development of a method to access differential Al tol erance, data from grain yield of 20 rice genotypes growing in high and low Al saturation plots, were correlated with morphological character s of the same genotypes grown in nutrient solution. By the canonical c orrelation it was possible to obtain two linear combinations, among se veral possibilities. These combinations retained the root area and the maximal leaf length, combined with four Al levels (0, 10, 20 and 30 m g L-1 Al) as the first canonical variable. The second canonical variab le considered the weighted difference between grain yield at low and h igh Al saturation level or the unweighted difference, with r 0.93 and 0.91, respectively. The results showed the possibility to correlate mo rphological traits, measured in nutrient solution, against field data, reducing uncertainty in choosening the most suitable indicator.