Assessing salt tolerance level of soybean during germination and seedling stage

Salinity stress response was investigated for soybean (Glycine max) for seed germination and growth, which is a part of the research for developing agriculture in coastal areas of Bangladesh. Total 9 treatments were used consisting of different salinity concentrations viz. 20 (T1), 40 (T2), 80 (T3), 120 (T4), 160 (T5), 200 (T6), 240 (T7), 280 (T8)and 320 (T9) mM NaCl. Distilled water was used as control. Germination percentage, seedling height, shoot weight, root length, root weight and vigor index were compared among the treatments. Results showed that from T1 to T4 soybean performed quite good as compare to the rest of the treatments. Therefore it can be said that the soybean could be a promising crop for coastal areas of Bangladesh where mild saline condition exists. However, it will not grow well under a high saline level.