Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, CCS HAU, Hisar-125004.
The present investigations were carried out on Brassica juncea cv. RH-30 under screen house conditions with salinity levels of 0, 8 and 12 dsm−1. The study was envisaged to ameliorate the adverse effect of salinity on various physiological aspects with the use of phosphorus (20, 40, 60 kg ha−1) and Sulphur (10, 20 and 30 kg ha−1) and their combinations (20 kg P ha−1 + 10 kg S ha−1, 40 kg P ha−1 + 20 kg S ha−1 and 60 kg P ha1 + 30 kg S ha−1) after emergence of seedlings. Under saline irrigation, different growth parameters viz dry weight of leaves, leaf area, absolute growth rate, relative growth rate and net assimilation rate exhibited significant decline (ranging from 24 to 73 percent) over non-saline control. Fertilizer applied in combination (60 kg P ha−1 + 30 kg ha−1) exhibited maximum alleviation (ranging from 24 to 46 percent) of the adverse effect of salinity. Salt stress showed significant reduction in plant gas exchange parameters: photosynthetic rate, transpiration and stomatal conductance. Both phosphorus and sulphur improved the gas exchange parameters but the higher level of sulphur (30 kg S ha−1) showed poor response. Combination of both the fertilizers proved better over individual fertilizer application in reviving gas exchange parameters.
Brassica juncea, saline irrigation, phosphorus, sulphur, AGR, RGR, NAR
