Vegetative Characters of Salt Resistance and Sensitive Corn (Zea mays L.) Under Salinity Stress

Salt stress or salinity is one of the abiotic factors that can reduce plant production. Corn as the third most cultivated cerealia after wheat and rice is also influenced by salinity or salt stress. ‘Elos’ is one of Madura local corn that has resistance to salt stress. ‘Elos’ can be crossed with salt sensitive corn (‘Bonanza’) to know inheritance of the resistance. But first, it’s necessary to compare the character of both cultivars under salt sress. A hundred seeds germinated in NaCl solution wich EC 0, 3, and 6 dS/m, then seedlings of 7 days after germination were planted on polybag containing soil and sand (1:1) which has its same salinity. Replication onf germination was 4 times and plant were 20 times.23 vegetative characters were observed. The results are the ratio of stem and leaf size treated with salinity with control of ‘Elos’ were higher than ‘Bonanza’. The chlorophyll content in ‘Bonanza’ was significantly different in each treatment while in ‘Elos’ were not. The color of the first leaf sheath of ‘Elos’ was red purple while ‘Bonanza’ was green. Plant size, chlorophyll content and first leaf sheath color can be the marker of resistance corn to salinity or salt stress. © 2025 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.