Abstract:To evaluate the saline-alkali tolerance of rice throughout the entire growth period, 27 rice varieties from Jilin Province were subjected to saline-alkali stress at different growth stages. At the bud-seedling stage, the varieties were treated with a 90 mmol/L NaHCO3/Na2CO3 solution(pH 9.4), whereas at the tillering and maturity stages, they were grown in soda saline-alkali soil with a pH of 8.7 and a salinity of 3.5‰. Twelve indicators, including germination rate and yield, were measured for the tested varieties. Principal component analysis and the membership function method were combined to construct a comprehensive saline-alkali tolerance index, represented by the D value, for systematic evaluation. The results showed that, at the bud-seedling stage, the coefficient of variation for the relative saline-alkali injury rate of germination rate was the highest(70.59%). Throughout the entire growth period, the coefficient of variation for the relative saline-alkali injury rate of 1 000-grain weight was the highest(46.15%). Cluster analysis based on the D values classified the 27 rice varieties into three salinealkali tolerance classes. The highly saline-alkali-tolerant varieties were Jidao 8, Jijing 168, Jinyuan 7, Jijing 169, Tonghe 2406, Tonghe 2407, Jinongda 346 and Jida 7618.