Abbas Shoukat1,2, Ali Hamza2, Muhammad Khuram Imtiaz2, Mohibe ul Hussnain Asad2 and Mustafa Khan2
1Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Kiel University, Hermann-Rodewald-Str. 2, 24118 Kiel, Germany; 2Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: ashoukat@plantnutrition.uni-kiel.de ; abbasshoukat3854@gmail.com
The effect of salinity on growth, yield and physiological parameters of five bread wheat genotypes was studied. The experiment set in a controlled environment to observe the umma’n response in wheat plants using salinity treatments of 0, 10 and 15 dS/m. The increase in salt concentration led to a decrease in the length and dry weight of plants and spikes. Under control conditions, SARC-8 had the maximum shoot length whereas SARC-5 had the maximum root length. All genotypes showed significantly less shoot and root growth at higher salinity (EC = 15 dS/m) and SARC-8 showed the highest resilience with respect to root dry weight. Grain yield also drastically decreased under salt stress. Unaj-2017 produced maximum grain yield under moderate salinity (EC = 10 dS/m). The study results indicate that salinity stress hinders growth parameters and yield, but these variables differ across genotypes. It is essential to grow salt-tolerant varieties of wheat in areas with salinity problems.