Relative salt tolerance of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) genotypes in relation to germination, growth and seed yield

Abstract

Effect of salinity on germination percentage, dry matter per plant, number of siliqua per plant, 1000-seed
weight and seed yield per plant of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss] was studied (2008-
09 & 2009-10). Five genotypes (Urvashi, Basanti, Varuna, Rohini and Ashirwad) were evaluated at five
levels of salinity viz. normal, 3, 6, 9 and 12 dSm-1. All the five mustard genotypes showed increasing trend
with respect to all above mentioned crop parameters with 3 dSm-1 salinity over normal water, but further
increase in irrigation water salinity above 3 dSm-1 reduced all parameters significantly with each increase in
salinity upto 12 dSm-1. Among genotypes, Urvashi showed best performance with respect to above mentioned
characters at higher levels of 6, 9 and 12 dSm-1 salinity, while Ashirwad performed poorest. Thus,
Urvashi genotypes proved to be more tolerant to salinity than other genotypes.