Evaluation of Wheat genotypes on the basis of physiological indices under salt stress

Salt stress is one of the major limitations for wheat plant growth and development.Screening of wheat cultivars for salt tolerance is an effective technique to identify tolerant cultivar for salt affected soil.In present study wheat genotypes (Pasban-90 and Frontana) were germinated in petri plates against control, 50mM, 75mM, 100mM, 125mM and 150mM salt levels and root & shoot length, fresh & dry weight, physiological indices like plant height stress indices (PHSI), plant fresh weight stress indices (PFSI), plant dry weight stress indices (PDSI), salt stress tolerance indices (STI), root toxicity (RT), shoot toxicity (ST) and germination energy (GE) were recorded for screening purpose.Root length (27%), shoot length (48%), fresh weight (47%), dry weight (58%), PHSI (38%), PFSI (43%), PDSI (40%), GE (35%) and SSTI (39%) decreased with increasing salt levels.Correlation analysis of all observed traits shows highly positive correlation between PHSI, PFSI, PDSI, STI and GE while significant negative correlation with root and shoot toxicity.On the basis of morphological data and physiological indices Pasban-90 is categorized as a salt tolerant cultivar while Frontana as salt sensitive cultivar.