Screening of tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius) varieties against salt stress

Abstract

Nine tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius) varieties,viz. JRO632, JRO204, S19, JRO524, IRA,JRO8432, JRO128, JRO2407 and CP58 were selected to test their tolerance to salinity stress under laboratory condition. Twenty five seeds of each of the selected variety were allowed to germinate in petri-dish under five levels of salt stress imposed by 0, 100, 160, 240, and 300 mM NaCl solution. Maximum inhibition of seed germination due to salinity was observed in jute variety S 19 (by 14% at 100 mM and 38% at 160 mM NaCl) and minimum inhibition in variety JRO 128 (no inhibition at 100 mM and 18% inhibition at 160 mM NaCl). Seed germination and seedling growth of all the jute varieties, however, were completely inhibited at 300 mM NaCl. Salt tolerance index of 10 days old seedling grown at 160 mM NaCl was 77.5% for variety S 19 and 30% for variety JRO 632. The study revealed that salinity stress has inhibitory effect on both seed germination and seedling growth of tossa jute and the jute varieties differed significantly in their tolerance to this salinity stress.