Impact of salicylic acid foliar application on two wheat cultivars grown under saline conditions

摘要

Salinity is one of the limiting factors in agricultural production of all crops in the world specifically in cereals crops. There are different ways to decrease the effect of salinity on growth and production of all plants. One of these ways is using salicylic acid which is plant growth regulator; it is able to increase the salt tolerance in crops. The aim of this work was to study salicylic acid effects on alleviation salinity stress and enhance plant growth parameters, physical characteristics, biochemical constituents, element contents, and production of two wheat varieties grown under salinity stress conditions in the North West area of Egypt. The experiment was designed in split plot with using four replicates. The two wheat varieties; Giza 168 a salt sensitive variety and Sakha 93 a salt tolerant variety were used with salicylic acid (SA) foliar application treatments: control, SA100 (100 mg salicylic acid/ L), SA200 (200 mg salicylic acid/ L) and SA400 (400 mg salicylic acid/ L) were applied during tillering and booting initiation stages. Results cleared that salicylic acid foliar application decreased the damage effects of salinity stress in both wheat cultivars especially, in Giza168 which was more sensitive to salinity by increasing growth and production of antioxidant such as ascorbic acid and protect both protein and chlorophyll from breakdown by free radicals. Foliar application of salicylic acid increased grain and straw yield of studied wheat cultivars and also increased potassium content and decreased Na: K ratio in straw. Overall, it can be suggested that foliar application of Salicylic acid is effective strategy to improve wheat productivity under salinity stress especially, for salt sensitive cultivars.