Maize under Stress: Identifying Robust Cultivars for Saline Industrial Landscapes

Salinity significantly reduce maize growth at seedling and germination stage which impact negatively its agro-industrial growth. This study evaluates the salinity response of eight maize cultivars across four salinity gradients (0.5.10.15 Dsm-1 of NaCl) to identify robust genotypes for saline-prone agricultural zones.Statistical analysis reveals that critical productivity indicators including germination percentage (GP), germination rate (GR), vigor index (VI), and shoot/root biomass vary significantly based on four salinity levels. In high-input hybrid systems, BHM 9 demonstrated superior performance with the highest GP (92.78%) and RG (92.40%), followed by BHM 7 and BHM 6. Conversely, within inbred lines, Khoibhutta maintained the highest vigor and coefficient of germination (CG) under control and low-stress conditions, while Mohor and BHM 5 exhibited the highest susceptibility to saline stress. These findings provide a data-driven foundation for cultivar selection in salt-affected regions. For industrial-scale farming, the deployment of BHM 9 (hybrid) and Khoibhutta (inbred) is recommended to ensure high germination rates and seedling uniformity, thereby mitigating the financial risks associated with crop failure in saline soils. Identifying these tolerant genotypes allows for more precise land-use planning and targeted breeding programs, ensuring stable yields in increasingly marginalized agricultural environments.