Differential Response of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) to Salinity

Four elite barley cultivars (Jimah 51, Jimah 54, Jimah 98 and Jimah 136) along with two local cultivars, Beecher (late maturity) and Duraqi (early maturity), were investigated for their response to five levels of irrigation water salinity viz. control (1 dS m-1), 3, 9, 12 and 15 dS m-1 during the winter seasons of 2002-03 and 2003-04 in pots containing sandy loam soil. The results indicated that the main effects of years, salinity and cultivars were highly significant (p<0.01) with respect to all the characters studied. Among the interactions, the effects of year x salinity and year x cultivar were highly significant (p<0.01) for all the characters, whereas that of salinity x cultivar was highly significant (p<0.01) for only two characters viz. plant height and dry matter yield. However, 3-factor interaction was not significant (p>0.05) for any character. Adverse effects of salinity were evident in the cultivars for all characters. Salinity tolerance of cultivars was assessed using the concepts of both stress susceptibility index at each higher salinity level in relation to control (lowest salinity level) and mean value over the salinity treatments with respect to each character. Among all the cultivars tested, Jimah 136 was found to have a consistently high degree of salinity tolerance. All other cultivars, however, responded differentially to different levels of salinity for different characters.