Abstract:
The physiology of salt tolerance in chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) is low. Therefore, after
screening of a large number of genotypes, two tolerant (SG-11 & DHG-84-11) and two
susceptible (Pusa-256 & Phule G-5) chickpea genotypes were germinated in sterilized
germination boxes under different levels of salt stress (NaCl : CaCl2 : Na2SO4) viz., 0.0
(control), 4.0 and 8.0dSm-1 in order to investigate the physiological basis of salt tolerance.
The experiment was carried out in completely randomised design in three replications
under simulated conditions. It was terminated after 8 days and the germinated seeds were
subjected to various analyses. At maximum salinity stress, there was comparatively more
accumulation of sugar, protein, proline and phenol in tolerant genotypes along with
higher amylase, peroxidase, catalase and lower protease activities. All the characters
were positively and significantly correlated. Some of these indices might be useful for im-
proving chickpea genotypes against salinity stress.
