Arbuscular Mycorrhiza and Its Role in Rice Production under Salinity Stress

Salinity is one of the most severe threats to food security in today's world. Rice ( Oryza sativa L.), the most important staple food throughout the globe, also undergoes the adverse effects of this particular abiotic stress. As a result, this hunger-satisfying cereal faces a drastic reduction in terms of production, especially in the coastal regions. Therefore, to overcome this situation, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can be employed to their significant symbiotic association ability, i.e., formation of arbuscular mycorrhiza with most of the terrestrial plants. These fungi actually follow various physiological as well as biochemical pathways for the exchange of nutrients through enhanced water uptake capacity, mostly in physiological dry soil. Inoculation of AMF also helps the crop against salt stress conditions via certain upregulation or downregulation of key metabolic pathways. Moreover, AMF will colonize in the rhizosphere to improve the structure and texture of the saline soil by decomposing the soil organic matter with the help of fungal hyphae. Hence, this chapter predominantly focuses on the prior relationship of AMF with rice to enhance its quality and productivity in different salinity-rich areas worldwide.