Comparative Adaptable Agronomic Traits of Blackgram and Mungbean for Saline Lands

Abstract

Blackgram, variety BARI Mash-1 and mungbean variety BARI Mung-5 were tested under five salinity levels (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 mM NaCl) in a shade house at Agronomy research field of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU), Dinajpur, Bangladesh during 2014 to investigate the comparative agronomic traits of black gram and mungbean as influenced by salt stress. In both crops, salinity stress remarkably reduced the morphological characteristics viz plant height, number of branches per plant and yield attributed traits such as total pods per plant, pod length, grains per pod, 100-grain weight as well as grain yield and stover yield per plant. Under all salinity levels, black gram produced the lower reduction of number of grains per pod than mungbean. Althrough, mungbean produced the higher 100-grain weight than in black gram in control treatment but the reduction was finally more in mungbean than black gram due to salt stresses. Black gram and mungbean showed 36.71% and 49.45% reduction of 100-grain weight, respectively under 90 mM NaCl salt stress. The grain yield per plant highly hampered in mungbean (97.62% to control) while black gram showed about 86.75% reduction under high salt stress (120 mM NaCl). Blackgram may be considered more salt tolerant than mungbean byenvising all of the above parameters.