SEEMA GUPTA AND SUSHILA SANGWAN*
Department of Botany, Government College, Hisar-125 001 (Haryana), India *(e-mail: drsushil2008@gmail.com; Mobile: 9466038245)
(Received: June 12, 2024; Accepted: August 31, 2024)
ABSTRACT
In arid and semi-arid regions, salinity remains a major problem restricting food production and the sustainability of agriculture. Salinity affects the plants at all the stages of their development. Sixteen possible combinations of seed priming treatments with plant growth regulators (GA3 and CK) and minerals (K+ and Ca2+) were given to wheat grains and based on seedling germination and its growth the four most effective treatments (K+, K++GA3, Ca2++GA3 and K++GA3+CK) were selected for the biochemical analysis in leaves. All seed priming treatments were beneficial in mitigating the adverse effects of salinity. Out of the four treatments, seed soaking in K++GA3+CK was found to be the most effective in mitigating the salinity induced negative effect to all the biochemical parameters i.e. total soluble carbohydrates, proteins, free amino acids, nucleic acid and nitrate reductase, etc.
Key words: Salinity, wheat, growth regulators, minerals, seed priming, biochemical analysis