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PLANT GROWTH AND IONIC DISTRIBUTION IN COTTON (GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM I..) UNDER SALINE ENVIRONMENT

ALl ZAFAR JAFRI* AND RAFIQ AHMAD

Abstract: Experiment was conducted on four cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L) cultivars viz., B.557, Niab-78, Sar. mast, Qalandari to evaluate their growth in terms of plant height, stem diameter, biomass production and ion transport from root to shoot when exposed to salinity levels of 4, 16, 21, 22 and 24 dS, m-1. Increasing salinity levels reduced growth of all the cultivars with higher inhibition in shoot as compared to root, Cw, Niab 78 and Qalandari exhibited higher salt tolerance where lower salinity levels promoted root development. Increasing salt levels also increased the net ionic uptake in all the cultivars with more affinity for K +. KINa ratio was > 1 in all cultivars, Niab- 78, however, showed minimum uptake and accumulation of salts under increasing salinity regimes and can be rated as more salt tolerant.

Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan.

Department of Botany, Islamia Degree College, Multan, Pakistan.