Influence of Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid on Mitigating the Deleterious Effect of Salt Stress on Morphophysiological, Biochemical, and Yield Traits of Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.)

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Salicylic acid (SA) as a foliar spray to mitigate the deleterious effects of salt stress on mungbean plants. Two mungbean genotypes viz; Shikha and Heera were grown under induced saline conditions (100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl) and compared with untreated control. Salt exposure decreased the morpho-physiological, biochemical and yield traits of both the genotypes, which was responded in the same way under induced salt stress. SA found to be essential in mitigating the adverse effects of salt stress in both tested mungbean genotypes. At the threshold combination of SA and NaCl (100 ppm SA + 100 mM NaCl), SA led to maximum plant height, number of leaves per plant, relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll content, number of pods and seed yield. Its foliar application was also expressed positive response in modulating the total proline content under different salt stress conditions. It was also concluded that foliar application of SA @100 ppm was highly effective in reducing the deleterious effect of salt at the combination with 100 mM NaCl and 150 mM NaCl and strengthened the ability of survival of both the mungbean genotypes under salt stress.