Abstract
The responses of IT Sorghum bicolor accessions to NaCI alone, and NaCI + CaCl2 (1:1 molar ratio) were compared at seedling stage. There were 4 EC levels of each type of salinity, EC4, EC6, EC8, ECIO dSm-l , and one control having EC 0.3. After 14 days of growth in salinity, the longest root of each accession was measured and compared with that in control solution. Analysis of variance of indices of salt tolerance revealed that both the salinities caused significant reduction' in root lengths of all the accessions, and the data showed that the roots of accessions were reduced more in mixture of salts than in single salt, showing detrimental effects of NaCI + CaCI2·It was also revealed that accessions responded differently to both type of salinities, and some accessions exhibited superior salt tolerance. Differential responses of accessions to salinity suggest that improvement in salinity tolerance of the present' sorghum material may be possible through selection and breeding. Key words: calcium chloride, relative salt tolerance, sodium chloride, sorghum accessions
