GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSES OF LACTUCA SATIVA L. TO DIFFERENT CONCENTRATION OF SODIUM FLUORIDE

Fluoride is abundant in the environment and toxic to all living organisms above a certain threshold. Fluoride exposure causes physiological, molecular, and biochemical changes in plants. The current study was initiated to determine the response of plants grown under fluoride stress administered as a soil drench. During the growth season of October 2019 to December 2019, the Lactuca sativa L. was experimented. Sodium fluoride (NaF) concentrations of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 ppm were applied to plants twice a week as soil drench to create stressed conditions. With increasing NaF concentration, there was a gradual reduction in morphological, biomass, and yield attributes and at the highest concentration, i.e, 300ppm, the growth was least. By observing the negative effects of NaF on plants, the current pot experiment concludes that Lettuce is sensitive to NaF stress. Future researchers may direct their studies to alleviate NaF stress by understanding the biochemical changes occurring in the plant during stress conditions.