EFFECT OF SALINITY (NaCl) AND SEED PRIMING (CaCl2) ON BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND BIOLOGICAL YIELD OF WHEAT

The experiment was conducted to validate the effect of salinity (NaCl) and seed priming (CaCl2) on biological yield of wheat. The six wheat varieties (Lalma-13, Pirsabak-05, Atta-Habib-10, Pirsabak-08, Inqilab-91 and Saleem-00) were tested at two seed treatments (un-primed and Primed with 50 mM CaCl2) and four salinity regimes (0, 3, 6 and 9 dSm(-1)) in soil culture. The seed priming and salinity has significantly (p <= 0.05) affected physiological, biochemical parameters and biological yield of wheat varieties. Wheat variety (Pirsabak-05) was tolerant in saline environment in term of producing highest shoot chlorophyll a and b content (1.60 and1.03 mg g(-1) fresh weight), shoot proline content (118.20 mu g g(-1) fresh weight), shoot K+ content (1.23 mg g(-1) dry weight), shoot and root Ca++ content (0.76 and 0.58 mg g-1 dry weight), biological yield (12.46 g plant-1), and lowest shoot Na+ (1.11 mg g(-1) dry weight) & Na+/K+ ratio (1.03).Saleem-00 and Inqilab-91 varieties were highest accumulator of shoot Na+ (1.26 mg g(-1) dry weight) and Na+/K+ ratio(1.55) respectively. Experimental findings suggested that except shoot Na+ and Na+/K+ ratio, all biochemical, physiological parameters and biological yield of wheat varieties could be enhanced with seed priming. The salt tolerant wheat varieties (i.e. Pirsabak-05 and Lalma-13) were more responsive to seed priming than salt sensitive varieties (i.e. Inqilab-91 and Saleem-00).