EVALUATION OF SALT TOLERANCE IN MAIZE HYBRIDS AT SEEDLING STAGE

Twenty four maize hybrids named as STM1 to STM24 were studied at five different salt concentrations of 0; 50; 100; 150; 200 mM NaCl at the National Maize Research Institute. After 7 days germination in room temperature, seedlings were transplanted to nutrient solutions salinized with salt. 17 day old seedlings were harvested for calculating of growth parameters such as root and shoot length, seedling dry matter production, ion Na+ and K+ content. As the results of the study, salt stress reduced plant growth of all hybrids but the STM10 and STM21 showed better salt tolerance while STM17 and STM18 presented salt-sensitive. The results of analysis for Na+ and K+ showed that among the hybrids, STM21 presented the lowest ion Na+ (2.057) and the highest ion K+ (2.763) in the seedlings.