Germination and early seedling growth of vegetables under various salinity stresses

Vegetables are an important part of our daily diet. As salinity levels in soil and irrigation water have increased, biomass production of horticultural crops has been reduced during the past few years. The main objective of this study was to check the effect of different salinity levels (0mM, 25mM, 50mM, 100mM, 200mM NaCl) on the germination percentage and the growth rate of young seedlings of vegetables (tomato, turnip, onion, fenugreek and cauliflower) comprehensively. This experiment was designed through Factorial under Completely Randomize Design (CRD) and the results were analyzed through all Pair-wise comparison of means using Tukey test (P ≤ 0.05). Both varieties of tomato (Nadar and Naqeeb), turnip, fenugreek and cauliflower showed maximum germination percentage of 95.525 % and 98.500 % (T3), 86.725 % (T2), 97.550 % (T2) and 85.900 % (T2) respectively when compared with the Control (T1). But the germination percentage suddenly declined in tomato (Nadar and Naqeeb), turnip, fenugreek and cauliflower as the salinity level moved up from 50 to 200mM NaCl. The percentage decline in germination was 20.475 % and 26.915 %, 41.375 %, 67.775 % and 46.725 % jointly at (T5). In contrast, onion seed showed an exceptional result in which the germination percentage was least affected through higher salinity levels up to 200mM.While both the varieties of tomato (Nadar and Naqeeb), turnip, onion, fenugreek and cauliflower resulted in maximum root length of 36.400 mm (T3), 28.700 mm (T1), 31.650 mm (T2), 27.025 mm (T1), 26.050 mm (T3) and 39.750 mm (T1) and a maximum shoot length as44.350 mm (T2), 39.875 mm (T2), 57.900 mm (T3), 37.275 mm (T2), 44.675 mm (T3) and 50.350 mm (T2) respectively. The above-mentioned vegetables showed maximum fresh and dry weight (average) of seedlings under salinity level up to 25-50mM NaCl. However, as the salinity level rise from 50mM to 100-200mM NaCl, the results demonstrated a significant decrease in average root length; shoot length; total fresh and dry weight of early seedlings. Keywords: Vegetables, salinity stress, seedlings, germination percentage, growth rat