Screening of Cotton Germplasm at Seedling Stage Under Salinity Stress

Abstract

Cotton has a 7.7 ds m⁻¹ salt tolerance threshold, yet salinity still poses a serious danger to the crop's ability to grow, yield, and produce high-quality fiber. Susceptibility to salt stress is influenced by the type of salt and stage of growth. Improving cotton's performance in salty circumstances requires an understanding of the crop's resistance to salinity, its reaction, and management techniques. Using a factorial Complete Randomized design, ten genotypes were assessed for two salt stress levels and normal conditions. Analysis of variance revealed substantial differences in a number of parameters, including root and shoot length, fresh and dried weights, leaf turgid weight, number of nodes, lateral roots, and plant height. Under both typical and stressful conditions, leaf dry weight and root length shown strong relationships with shoot and leaf fresh weights and root fresh weight, suggesting the possibility of selecting for improved overall performance. But shoot fresh weight and root length showed negative associations with other characteristics, indicating that choosing for salt tolerance based only on root length might not be the best option. Genotypes exhibiting resistance to salt stress and early germplasm selection predicated on recognized features may prove advantageous for upcoming cotton breeding endeavors.