Salt tolerance of twelve maize hybrids at the seedling stage

Abstract

Using a simple and novel semi-hydroponic technique, three experiments were carried out to evaluate salinity tolerance in twelve pipe-line/commercial maize hybrids at the seedling stage. For experiment 1, hybrids were evaluated at 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 M NaCl. For experiments 2 and 3, hybrids were subjected to 0.25 and 0.30 M NaCl, respectively. The technique simulates a semi-hydroponic system where the upper layers of coco peat medium receive water/or saline solution only by capillary movement, while the roots are immersed in saturated lower coco peat medium. The emergence percentage ranged from 73 to 100% under control conditions, from 50 to 100% at 0.10 M NaCl, from 46 to 100% at 0.15 M NaCl and from 43 to 96% at 0.20 M NaCl. In addition, increasing salinity decreased the shoot and the root length and the seedling dry weight. Several hybrids (VMH 4029, VMH 4028, VMH 4088, VMH 4060, VMH 4033, VMH 4046, VMH 4101) exhibited a high emergence percentage of 80–96% even at 0.3 M NaCl, revealing that these hybrids have high salinity tolerance and also the capacity to produce high yields. This confirms that salinity tolerance and high yield may be combined if pipe-line hybrids which have been confirmed for high yield over multilocation trials are selected and then tested under field conditions in saline-prone areas.