EFFECT OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF WATER SALINITY ON SEED GERMINATION OF MAIZE UNDER SOILLESS CULTURE

All laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the seed germination of maize in different levels of water salinity under soil less culture. The study was carried out at the laboratory condition during the October, 2015. The maize seeds used in the study were collected from the local market. Ten healthy maize seeds were allowed to germinate in petridishes containing tissue paper. The water salinity levels were 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 dSm^-1 along with a control where only distilled water was used. The highest seed germination rate (66.5%) was found in control treatment (0% NaCl) where the lowest seed germination rate (38%) was found in 4.0 dSm^-1 treatment. Results indicated that the germination rate decreased with increasing rate of salinity level. But analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there were no significant differences (P < 0>-1 had no significant effect on the maize seed germination under the employed condition.