Effect of Pre-soaking of Seeds with Salt and Hormone Solutions and Different Quality Waters on Wheat

A field experiment using wheat (var. S-227) was conducted with 7 pre-soaking treatments [distilled water, Na₂SO₄, MgCl₂, NaCl, indole acetic acid (IAA), indole butyric acid (IBA) and control], two qualities of irrigation water and three Na/K ratios in water to find out their effect on soil properties, crop growth and nutrient uptake. The results indicated that almost all the pre-soaking treatments increased the germination, height, tillering, grain and straw yields and content of N, P and K in the grain and straw, while decreased the sodium content as compared to control. Pre-soaking with IAA, IBA and Na₂SO₄ proved to be better than others. Higher salinity and SAR of water decreased the height, tillering, grain and straw yields, and P and K contents in the grain and straw of wheat, but the magnitude of reduction was less when the seeds were pre-soaked. Pre-soaking with IAA, IBA and Na₂SO₄ tended to mitigate the adverse effect of higher salinity and SAR on effective tillers, grain and straw yields, P and K contents of grain and K content of straw. In general, the effective tillers, plant height, grain and straw yields and N, P and K of grain and straw increased while the content of Na decreased with the decrease of Na/K ratio in the irrigation water