Abstract

Soluble salts above a critical limit produce harmful effects to plant growth. It may be either due to increased osmotic pressure of the soil solution or unavailability of water. Plant growth is also depressed when the soil is highly saturated with exchangeable sodium or by the toxicity of some specific ion like boron. The degree to which a plant can resist salinity, alkalinity or toxicity of boron is a characteristic property of a crop or its varieties. This property of the crop is generally kept in mind while selecting crops for growing under saline-alkali conditions. Salt tolerance property of crops has been found very useful in overcoming the hazardous effect of salts on plant growth and yield has been successfully utilised in managing arid and semiarid areas of western countries. Differences between species and varieties regarding salt tolerance have been reported by Ayers et al (1952), Richard (1954), Bernstein and Hayward (1958) and Hayward and Bernstein (1958). Similar information on agricultural crops in India is not available in relation to the severity and magnitude of the problem. Only recently some work on these lines has been reported by Desai et al (1957), Mehta and Desai (1959), Mehrotra and Gangwar (1964), Asana and Kale (1965) and Maliwal and Paliwal (1966). Most of the results on salt tolerance of crops are based on either germination or pot culture studies. It is, therefore, proposed to examine the effect of saline-alkali conditions on the growth of wheat and gram in the natural environment of the fields, and also to find out their limits of salinity, alkalinity and boron tolerance.

Keywords: