Abstract
A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of presowing seed treatments on vegetative growth of cotton under saline conditions. Delinted cotton seeds were treated in 0.5 per cent solution/suspension of ZnS04 , CaS04 and CaCI2 for eight hours prior to sowing. Three salinity levels, i. e., 4, 8 and 12 dS rrr" were developed with NaCI salt while the soil as such (2.6 dS rrr") was used as control. After 56 days of sowing the plants were uprooted. Seeds treated with 0.5% CaS04 , ZnS04 and CaCI2 produced 50,37 and 17 per cent more biomass, respectively than control. After harvesting, the analysis of plants showed that calcium treatment enhanced the potassium selectivity against sodium which was almost doubled as compared to control.
