Impact of foliar application of salicylic acid on physiological performance of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) under salt stress

Although salt stress is a worldwide agricultural and eco-environmental problem and many PGRs have been tried to combat the salinity effects but limited information is available on the impact of salicylic acid in sorghum under salt stress. To assess the impact, seeds of sorghum varieties (HJ 513 and HJ 541) were grown with four different salt levels (0, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 dS m-1) and foliar spray of three salicylic acids (0, 25 and 50 ppm) levels with twelve differeLimited water availability hampers the sustainability of crop production. Assessment of the physiological parameters i.e. increase in MDA and H2O2 content from 0.115 to 0.260 µmole g-1 DW and 29.87 to 66.00 nmole g-1 DW, respectively and declining trend was observed in total chlorophyll content 3.16 to 2.02 mg g-1 DW, SPAD Value 43.61 to 25.19 and photochemical quantum yield (Fv/Fm) 0.736 to 0.651, respectively, in leaf samples at vegetative stage from control to 10 dS m-1 of salt stress. Overall yield attributes and yield i.e., panicle length, panicle weight, seed yield plant-1, 100 seed weight and harvest index reduced significantly under salt stress. Furthermore, seed yield plant-1 ranged from 13.2 to 9.7 g in HJ 513 and 11.9 to 8.7 g in HJ 541 from control to 10 dS m-1 of salt stress. Foliar application of salicylic acid @ 50 ppm significantly influenced the physiological performance of sorghum over control and 25 ppm. Seed yield plant-1 increased by 9.8 % after application of 50 ppm SA under salt stress (10 dS m-1) over control. Thus SA may be an alternative to ameliorate the adverse effect of salt stress on sorghum crop.