IMPACT OF SALINITY ON SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF WHEAT

Salinity is a widespread problem in arid and semiarid region, which severely limits plants growth and crop productivity. To evaluate the effect of salinity on germination and seedling growth a pot experiment was conducted during 2023 in the Department of Agronomy Lab. In this study, two varieties BWMRI Gom 1 and BWMRI Gom 2 were used to assess the effect of salinity levels (0, 3.5, 7 and 10.5 dS/m) on wheat seed germination efficiency. It was found that higher levels of salt stress significantly decreased germination percentage, coleoptile length, seedling shoot length, and seedling fresh, dry weight of shoot, root length, seedling fresh and dry weight of root. Moreover, at 10.5 dS/m NaCl seed germination percentage of the two varieties was remarkably reduced compared with non-stress conditions. The study showed that salinity influenced seed germination and seedling growth in both varieties of wheat, but BWMRI Gom 2 showed better results than BWMRI Gom 1.