Screening of Millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) Varieties for Salt Tolerance in Semi-Arid Soil of Northern Nigeria

A considerable proportion of the arable land cropped with pearl millet in northern Nigeria is affected by salt concentration. Pot experiments were conducted at Maiduguri in Sudan savanna to determine the influence of NaCl concentration on growth and nutrient content of pearl millet. The treatments comprised of three NaCl concentrations: 0.0, 1.4336 and 2.1504g/kg of soil and five pearl millet varieties: Ex-Borno (Sammil-1), Maiwa, SE-13 (Sammil-6, Yar-Mubi and Buduma, arranged in completely randomized design and replicated three times. Germination percentage, plant height, shoot and root dry weights significantly were decreased with increasing soil salinization. Millet variety, Maiwa was significantly superior to the other varieties in the expression of these parameters. N, P, K, Ca and Mg Concentrations were also significantly decreased with increasing NaCl concentrations, but Na and Cl accumulation increased in the plant tissues.The highest values of N, P and K, Na, Ca + Mg and Cl were observed for Ex-Borno, Yar-Mubi, SE_13, Maiwa and Buduma, respectively. The significant NaCl concentration and millet variety interaction effects revealed that, both growth parameters and plant nutrient contents significantly decreased with increasing soil salinization for all varieties. However, the Maiwa variety was relatively more tolerant to soil salinization as it expressed superior nutrient content and growth parameter. The variety could therefore possess superior inherent genetic characteristics that could assist in the identification of superior genes for salt tolerance in pearl millet for improving its productivity in the region.