Nutrient Uptake, Water Relations, and Yield Performance lf Different Wheat Cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) under Salinity Stress

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted in the wire house of Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad to evaluate the effect of salinity stress on water relations, nutrient uptake and yield of six local spring wheat cultivars. The seeds were sown in plastic pots (25 × 15 cm) and experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design in factorial arrangement with three repeats. De-ionized water was used as control treatment while salinity stress was imposed by irrigating plants with sodium chloride (NaCl) solution of 10 mM at tillering, stem elongation, anthesis, and grain development stages. Results of the study demonstrated that salinity stress decreased water potential by 32%, osmotic potential by 12%, and relative water contents by 20% as compared to control treatment. The nitrogen (N) uptake was decreased by 36% under salinity stress, while phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) uptake were decreased by 56% and 42%, respectively. The yield of wheat plants was also significantly reduced under salinity stress. It reduced grain yield by 25% and grain weight by 7%. The response of different cultivars was also different to salinity stress as cultivars ‘Lasani-08’ and ‘FSD-08’ were found to be more tolerant as compared to other cultivars.