Evaluation of relative salt tolerance in brassicas on the basis of pollen performance

Sodium chloride, in general, inhibited both pollen germination arid pollen tube growth in different species of Brassica and inhibition varied with the species and the cultivar studied. Based on the overall pollen performance among four tested species, inhibition was maximum in B. juncea cv. Varuna and hence adjudged as the most salt sensitive. The inhibition, however, decreased from B. alba, B. carinata to B. napus, thereby, indicating that B. napus is the most salt tolerant. Similarly among different cvs. of B. juncea, Varuna, RH-8812, RH-8113 were adjudged as salt sensitive; RH-781, RH-819 as moderately tolerant and RH-7846, RH-8701, Domo-4 and Pusa bold as salt tolerant. These results indicated a positive correlation between pollen performance and known whole plant response.