GERMINATION, SEEDLING GROWTH AND WATER RELATION BEHAVIOR OF WHEAT GENOTYPES AS AFFECTED BY SALT STRESS

Abstract

For Screeningsalt tolerance of wheat genotypes through germination and seedling growth characters were used as screening test criteria against salt stress. Wheat genotypes (33) were tested under 5 different salt concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 dSm -1 ) at central laboratory, Sher-eBangla

Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, during February to March, 2016. The experiment was conducted in a complete randomize design (CRD) with 5 replications. The results of the experiment revealed that, germination and seedling growth parameters of wheat genotypes varied significantly under salt stress. A marked reduction on germination rate, shoot and root length, shoot and root dry weight, relative water content, water retention capacity and vigour indexwere observed with increasing of salt concentration for most of the wheat genotypes except ESWYT-5, ESWYT-6 and BARI GOM 28. ESWYT-5, ESWYT-6 and BARI GOM 28 showed consistently better performance against salt stress and there were a slow linear reduction observed with the increasing of salt concentration from 0 to 20 dSm -1 . So the ESWYT-5, ESWYT-6 and BARI GOM 28 could be recommended as salt tolerant genotype against moderatesaline conditions.