Salinity Tolerance of Blackgram and Mungbean: I. Dry Matter Accumulation in Different Plant Parts

Dry matter(DM) accumulation in different plant parts of two Vigna spp., blackgram(Vigna mungo) and mungbean(Vigna radiata), was compared at different levels of salinity. Two vaarieties of each of blackgram (Barimash-1 and Barimash-2) and mungbean(Barimung-3 and Barimung-4) were grown with 50, 75 and 100mM NaCl solutions and tap water as a control till maturity. The DM accumulation in all plant parts of the two crops devreased with the increasing salinity levels. The reducation was severe in mungbean compared to blackgram. On an average mungbean produced only 3% grain yield compared to 37% in blackgram at 100mM NaCl. The salinity induced growth reduction was relatively less in Barimash-2 than that in Barimash-1. In mungbean, the relative DM production of Barimung-3 was greater than Barimung-4. The extent of biomass reducation due to salinity in different plant parts was not similar. At maturity the rank of biomass accumulation (at 100 mM NaCl) in different plant parts of blackgram was in decreasing order by seeds pod$^{-1}$ (97%), branch plant$^{-1}$ (88%), 1000-grain weight (79%), plant height(72%), pods plant$^{-1}$ (50%), leaf weight and root mass(both 49%) and stem weight (48%). In mungbean, the rank was in decreasing order by 1000-grain weight (57%), leaf weight (54%), plant height (52%), seeds pod$^{-1}$ (50%), branch plant$^{-1}$ (41%), root weight (34%), stem weight (24%) and pods plant$^{-1}$ (6%). Therefore, salinity reduced grain yield more than straw and roots of the Vignaq spp., and blackgram is relatively more salt-tolerant than mungbean.