EVALUATION OF SORGHUM VARIETIES/LINES FOR SALT TOLERANCE USING PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES AS SCREENING TOOL

Salinity is a major threat to irrigated agriculture in Pakistan as it is adversely affecting growth and yield of crops to various extents. So, different strategies have been adopted to overcome this problem of low productivity. Growing of salt tolerant crops is a good option to obtain economical yields from saline areas for which quick method to screen salt tolerant plants, particularly in early stages of their growth is important. For this purpose some green-house studies using some physiological parameters i.e., germination stress tolerance index (GSI), shoot length stress tolerance index (SLSI), root length stress tolerance index (RLSI) and biomass stress tolerance index (BSI) were conducted to identify the salt tolerant lines of sorghum. On the basis of results obtained using the above physiological criteria, sorghum lines JS-2002 and Sandalbar were categorized as tolerant, Hegari- sorghum and JS-263 medium tolerant while Noor as medium sensitive and FJ-115 and PSV-4 as sensitive ones. The results also indicated that the physiological parameters tried in the present study are useful to screen large quantity of sorghum germplasm for salt tolerance leading to selection of suitable lines that can be recommended for different saline areas to improve yields.