Effect of Salinity on Morpho-physiological and Seed Quality Attributes of Brassicas

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in non-saline (ECe 2.1 dS m-1 and pH 7.8) and saline field (ECe 7.5 dS m-1 and pH 8.4) to study the effect of salinity on morpho-physiological parameters, photosynthetic efficiency, water relation parameters, biochemical and seed quality parameters in four Brassica genotypes namely T-59, CS-52, YST-151 and NDYS-2. Salinity reduced the plant height, number of branches plant-1, leaf area plant-1, leaf area index, number of siliqua plant-1, number of seeds siliquae-1, test weight, above ground phytomass productivity (biological yield), seed yield (economic yield) and harvest index. Salinity also reduced the relative water content, photosynthetic efficiency and transpiration rate at all the growth stages. In general, osmotic potential was increased, but relatively decreased in genotype CS-52. Salinity increased the total soluble sugars, but decreased protein and oil contents. It is concluded that genotype T-59 exhibited higher seed production potential among four Brassica genotypes under both saline and non-saline conditions due to better physiological and yield potential. Key words: Brassicas, harvest index, leaf area index, siliquae, water-use efficiency, relative water content.