Abstract
Salinity causes decrease in maize growth and production. Maize occupies an important position in fodder and food crops of
Pakistan. Recently, maize has been designated as silicon (Si) accumulator which can alleviate the salinity damage, a major
constraint to agricultural crop production. With the objective to combat salinity stress in maize by Si applications using
silicic acid Si(OH)4, an experiments was conducted on two contrasting maize genotypes (salt sensitive; Pak-Afgoee and salt
tolerant; Ev-5098), under normal and saline conditions. Three different levels of Si (0, 1 and 3 mM) were optimized for
salinity tolerance on the basis of plant morphological characters especially dry weight in hydroponics. These Si-level was
further used to investigate its effect on maize in hydroponic (0 mM NaCl) and saline (100 mM NaCl). The evaluation was
done on the basis of various morphological, physiological, biochemical and growth traits during the experiments. Silicon
supplementation into the solution culture significantly improved the K+
: Na+ with reduced Na+ and increased K+ uptake.
Plant water relations with higher water potential, increase in chlorophyll fractions and its ratios, enhanced stomatal
conductance. It was concluded that Ev-5098 is better than Pak-Afgoee under salt stress and silicon inclusion into the any
growth medium is beneficial for maize and can improve crop growth by maintaining plant water status, better K+
: Na+ and
recovering the plant defense system adversely influenced by salt stress.
