Artículos
Foliar applied potassium nitrate alleviated salinity stress in winter wheat
Seeds of salt-resistant and salt-sensitive wheat cultivars were sown and grown in vermiculite soilless containers. Control seeds were raised in Hoagland nutrient solution (0NaCl, 6mM KNO3). In the saline treatment, however, the seeds were grown on the same Hoagland solution, to which NaCl was added to produce 100mM of the salt. KNO3 was sprayed onto the wheat plants at 10mM (1g/L) on three consecutive days, at their heading stage. The yields of both cultivars were statistically significantly increased, due to the said foliar spray. The salt-resistant cultivar produced higher grain yield and better quality, under salinity stress than the salt-sensitive cultivar. This spray also statistically significantly elevated flag-leaf chlorophyll concentration, and increased the gas exchange, leaf-area index, spike length and the plant height, under salinity stress. The contribution of the KNO3 spray was two-fold higher in the salt-sensitive cultivar than in the resistant one (+35% and +17% respectively).
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