Abstract:
Salinity is a major environmental stress that inhibits plant growth and development. Salt affected areas in the world
are also increasing year by year thus limiting the agricultural production. Salt tolerant crops are advantageous under
such conditions as they can cope up with soil salinity. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effect of salt on
growth performances of targeted crop species. The experiment was carried out to evaluate the growth performance
of three finger millet varieties (Rawana, Ravi and Oshada) under different salinity levels. The experiment was
conducted using completely randomized design with three replicates per treatment. Five different salinity levels
were used for the experiment ( 0 ,2 ,4 ,6 ,8 ds/cm). 2 1-day-old nursery seedlings were transplanted in polythene bags
filled only with sand. One week after transplanting recommended amount of Albert solution (lOg dissolved in 4.51 of
water) was added twice a week. Salt water with different concentrations was applied once in two days. Plants were
uprooted two months after transplanting for data collection. According to the results of analysis of variance
interaction of salinity and varietal effect was significant for shoot height, root dry weight and number of leaves per
plant. Significantly higher shoot height was observed in variety Rawana and Oshada at 2ds/cm. Root dry weight of all
three varieties showed significant increase with increasing salinity level up to 4ds/cm and then decreased. Variety
Oshada exhibited the best growth performance compared to other two varieties in all salinity levels. Results revealed
that finger millet is moderately tolerant to salinity and for better growth performance need slightly saline soils.
