Abstract
In order to study the effect of salts stress on the growth and yield of wheat (cv. Inqalab), a pot experiment was conducted in the wire-house of the Department of Soil Science, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam. The soil was artificially salinized to a range of salinity levels i.e . EC 2.16, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 dS·m-1 with different salts (MgCl2 + CaCl2 + Na2SO4). The salinized soil used for the experiment was sandy clay in texture, alkaline in reaction (pH > 7.0) and moderate in organic matter (0.95%) content. The results showed that with increasing salinity there was an increase in the ECe, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Cl- and decrease in the K+, SAR and ESP values of the soil Increasing salinity, progressively decreased plant height, spike length, number of spikelets spike-1 1000 grain weight and yield (straw and grain). Adverse effects of salts on plants were associated with the accumulation of less K+ and more Na+ and Cl- in their flag leaf sap, grains and straw. This resulted in lower K+:5Na+ ratio in flag leaf sap, grains and straw of wheat plants. These results indicated that the effects of salts stress were greater at 10 than at 8, 6 and 4 EC dS·m-1.
Highlights
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important cereal crop of the world
The results showed that with increasing salinity there was an increase in the ECe, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Cl− and decrease in the K+, Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) values of the soil Increasing salinity, progressively decreased plant height, spike length, number of spikelets spike−1 1000 grain weight and yield
In order to assess the effect of salts stress on the growth and yield of wheat variety Inqabab, a pot experiment was conducted in the wire-house of the Department of Soil Science, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam
Summary
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important cereal crop of the world. The king of cereals wheat is the principal source of food and is extensively grown, consumed and preferred in Pakistan. It contains approximately 60% - 80% protein, 2% - 2.5% glucose, 1.5% - 2% fat and 2% - 3% mineral matter [1]. The average yield of wheat in Pakistan is about 23888 kg∙ha−1 which is comparatively very low to the other wheat growing countries of the world. The factors behind the low yield include poor fertility status of soil, less and imbalance use of fertilizers, unawareness and utilization of modern technology by the farmers, environment and climatic condition of the area, deficiency of macro and micronutrients and availability of required irrigation water at proper time [2]
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