Identification of nutritious rice varieties through non-destructive detection technology is important for high-quality seed production. With the development of technology, rapid and non-destructive identification methods based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing technology are increasingly gaining attention in the scientific community. This study utilized hyperspectral imaging technology to acquire spectral reflectance data from the rice canopy during the grain filling stage. Different models (stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) and the Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN)) for estimating rice protein content based on canopy spectral information were constructed using both multiple stepwise regression and BP neural networks. The results showed that the model based on BPNN estimation performed best for predicting grain protein content, with an R² = 0.9516 and RMSE = 0.3492, indicating high accuracy and stability in the model. Overall, hyperspectral imaging technology combined with various models could significantly help to identify rice varieties. Further, the current findings provide a technical reference for the selection of high-quality rice varieties in a non-destructive manner.

Soil salinization is an important factor that limits crop production. The effects of spraying salicylic acid (SA) during the grain-filling stage on the salt tolerance of progeny seeds in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were investigated in this study. The results showed that spraying SA during the grain-filling stage significantly increased the grain weight and yield of wheat plants. Meanwhile, the seeds from the SA-treated plants showed a higher germination rate, length and dry mass of the coleoptile and radicle, and a lower mean germination time compared to the seeds of water-treated plants under the salt germination condition, indicating that SA pretreatment during the grain-filling stage could effectively improve the salt tolerance of progeny seeds in wheat. SA pretreatment significantly increased the activities of amylases and the respiration rate, accompanied by a decrease in starch content, and a higher accumulation in the level of soluble sugars and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the germinated seedlings compared to the water pretreatment under salt stress. In addition, SA pretreatment obviously alleviated the increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) release rate in seedlings by activating antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD)) under salt stress. Moreover, the seedlings of the SA-treated plants showed lower Na⁺ and higher K⁺ contents compared to the seeds of water-treated plants under salt stress. The results of this study indicate that spraying SA during the grain-filling stage improves the capacity of offspring seeds to maintain osmotic and ion balance and redox homeostasis under salt stress, thereby conferring salt tolerance to the wheat seeds.