Abstract:
Salinity due to over-accumulation of NaCl is usually of great concern and it is the most injurious factor in arid and semi arid
regions. Considering this feature, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the salinity stress responses of selected okra
cultivators on Diffusive Resistance (DR) and Relative Water Content (RWC). The okra cultivars 'Haritha‘, 'EUOK2‘ and
'MI5‘ were used for this study. Sodium chloride (100mM) was used to create the salinity while, distilled water was used as
control. Salt stress significantly increased the DR of the selected okra cultivars. The highest increase (5.1 scm-1)was obtained
in the 'MI5‘ followed by 'Haritha‘(4.2scm-1) and 'EUOK2‘(3.6 scm-1). The highest increase found in the 'MI5‘ okra cultivar
would have been due to tight closure of stomata in this cultivar compared to the others. The lowest value found in the
'EUOK2‘ would have been due to its inherent characteristic feature. The stomates of this cultivar would have kept opened
relatively widely than the others. Salt stress significantly reduced the RWC of the selected okra cultivars. The highest
reduction (58.7 %) was found in the 'MI5‘ followed by 'Haritha‘ (67.3 %) and 'EUOK2‘ (73.5 %). The 'EUOK 2‘ maintained
relatively high amount of water in their leaf tissues under salinity stress. All these events indicate that 'EUOK 2‘ cultivar of
okra had the ability to withstand salinity stress much better than the others. As a result, 'EUOK2‘ was recognized as the most
salinity tolerant okra cultivar which could be grown in the salt affected areas of the sandy regosols.
