Standardization of a protocol to screen for salinity tolerance in groundnut

This article reports the results of two experiments carried out to standardize a protocol for the screening of salt-tolerant groundnut genotypes. The objectives were: (i) to identify an optimum NaCl treatment; (ii) to explore the potential tolerance mechanisms; and (iii) to assess the genotypic variation for salinity tolerance in groundnut. Results showed that 100-125 mM of NaCl was suitable to screen for salinity tolerance in groundnut. The material screened in this study was very limited by large differences could be observed for response to salinity, indicating a good scope for identifying genotypes with higher level of tolerance from larger screening of diverse sets of materials. Reduction in leaf size and stem/leaf ratio was observed in response to salinity. This indicates arrest of leaf expansions, which eventually limits the area available for photosynthesis. Further research is needed to determine the mechanisms of salinity tolerance in groundnut