Salinity effects on growth and productivity of two soybean (Glycine max L.) genotypes

Global crop production systems are challenged by the increasing areas of saline soil in arid and semiarid regions. A field experiment was conducted to test the salinity tolerance of two soybean genotypes (PK 416 & PS 1347) and was subjected to six levels of salt concentrations. Yield components were determined at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after sowing. Dry weight of stem exhibited significant reductions in all the sets at different durations except PK 416 which exhibited non significant reductions at 3 EC at first harvest. Dry weight of root increases linearly with the advancement of plant age, however maximum increase was noticed between 60 and 90 days after sowing in all the cultivars. Among the yield components, numbers of pods, fresh and dry weight of pods per plant were significantly reduced with increasing salt concentrations. Our data indicated that salinity decreased the grain yield and biological yield in both the genotypes, the decrease being maximum in PS 1347. Thus PK 416 proved better under saline irrigation.