A qualitative variation in the morphological traits was
also visualized with different level of gamma radiation
treatments. The plant height increased between 2 - 3 cm
in the irradiated somaclones as compared to the untreated
plants. This finding is highly important in the sense
that both the genotypes FR13A and FR43B are submergence
tolerant and increase in the plant height will always
be considered a beneficial mutation. Moreover, this also
resulted in increased panicle length and flag leaf length a
feature often seen in water stress conditions. As usual,
the % sterility increased with increase in radiation
dosage. This is in accordance with earlier data.