The chickpea genotype, CSG-8962 was raised in screenhouse to study salinity induced changes in ethylene evolution, antioxidative defence system and membrane integrity in relation to changes in plant water and mineral content. At vegetative stage (60 d after sowing), the plants were exposed to single saline irrigation (0, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 dS m -1 ). Sampling was done 3 d after saline treatments. The other sets of treated plants were re-irrigated with water and sampled after further 3 d. The Ψ w of leaf and Ψ s of leaf and roots decreased from -0.47 to -0.61 MPa, -0.67 to -1.23 MPa and from -0.57 to -0.95 MPa, respectively, with increasing salinity. Similarly, RWC of leaf and roots reduced from 87.5 to 72.3 % and 96.7 to 84.35 %, respectively. The decline in Ψs of roots was mainly due to accumulation of proline and total soluble sugar. With salinity, increase in ethylene evolution, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) content and ACC oxidase activity was reported. Similarly, marked increase in H 2 O 2 content (20 -182 %) and lipid peroxidation (43 -170 %) was observed. The defense mechanism activated in roots was confirmed by the increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione transferase (GTase), glutathione reductase (GR) and catalase (CAT) but ascorbic acid (AA) content was decreased. About 3-fold increase in Na + /K + ratio and 2.5 fold increase in Cl -content was observed. Upon desalinization, a partial recovery was observed in most of the parameters studied.

Infertility is a global problem, but the highest prevalence is in low resource countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where infection-related tubal damage is the commonest cause. Most infections causing tubal damage are preventable and assisted conception can treat the infertility. However, assisted conception, despite being available for nearly three decades is either unavailable or inaccessible to most residents of resource poor countries. Infertility has social, economic and personal effects, which go beyond childlessness, and women bear the major brunt of the burden. There is urgent need for a comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare initiative involving maternal and child health, safe abortions, family planning and infertility prevention and management. The provision of low cost assisted reproduction for couples in poorly resourced countries also needs to be revisited.

Chickpea is the most important pulse crop of the arid and semi-arid areas. In India, it is cultivated during winter, depending on soil moisture stored from the preceding summer rain, which is often inadequate to ensure a satisfactory crop.In most such areas, saline ground water is the only source of supplementary irrigation to which chickpea, like other pulses, is highly sensitive (Maas & Hoffman 1977). Field observations indicate (Manchanda et al. 1981) that chickpea is more sensitive to chloridedominated than to sulphate-dominated saline water irrigation. Since most saline ground water and saline soils are dominated by chloride or sulphate salts, this study evaluated the effects of these salts on the yield and mineral composition of chickpea at different electrical conductivities. (EC e ). MATERIALS AND METHODSIn a greenhouse study, the chickpea cultivars H355 and H208, recommended for irrigated and dry land conditions, respectively, were grown to maturity in a sandy soil (Typic Torripsamments) at five EC e values ranging from 1-8 to 80 dS/m, dominated by either chloride (C1:SO 4 = 7:3) or sulphate (C1:SO 4 = 3:7) salts of Na, Ca and Mg (4:1:3). The soil was noncalcareous and nongypsiferous, and had an initial EC,, = 0-8 dS/m, pH 1:2 = 8-2, organic C = 006%, saturation moisture = 25 % by weight and cation exchange capacity 30 mmol( + )/kg soil. The respective EC C values were attained before sowing by adding solutions of salts on an equivalent-weight basis. Thus, each chloride-and sulphate-dominated irrigation treatment had a range of six values, including a control. Each treatment was completely randomized, with three replications. The resulting EC e and osmotic potential determined just before sowing are given in Table 1. The C1:SO 4 ratio of the added solutions and that of saturation extracts were similar.Before adding the salts, a uniform solution of nutrients (N, P, K, S, Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe at 25, 50, 75, 20, 2-5, 1, 5 and 10 mg/kg, respectively, of the airdried soil) was added to and thoroughly mixed in the soil, before imposing the salinity treatments. After equilibrating the salinity treatments for 4 days, ten seeds of each cultivar were sown per pot in the middle of October and thinned to six plants/pot 2 weeks after sowing. When water stress was observed in the plants, the pots were irrigated alternately from above and below (through a centrally embedded plastic feeder tube), using 400 ml distilled water each time, equal to field capacity.Mineral analysis for half the number of plants in each pot was carried out at flower initiation (3 months old); dry matter content and seed yield were recorded for the rest at maturity. The plants were analysed for Cl, Na, Ca, Mg, N, P and K contents. Chloride contents were determined in plant extracts in 0-5 M H N O 3 + 0-5M KNO 3 , after decolorizing with charcoal, adjusting the pH of the extract to 8-2 with NaOH solution and then titrating against AgNO 3 (Chhabra et al. 1976). Other plant constituents and EC e , Cl and SO 4 in soil saturation extracts were determin...

Phytoremediation potential of six halophytic species i.e. Suaeda nudiflora, Suaeda fruticosa, Portulaca oleracea, Atriplex lentiformis, Parkinsonia aculeata and Xanthium strumarium was assessed under screen house conditions. Plants were raised at 8.0, 12.0, 16.0, and 20.0 dSm(-1) of chloride-dominated salinity. The control plants were irrigated with canal water. Sampling was done at vegetative stage (60-75 DAS). About 95 percent seed germination occurred up to 12 dSm(-1) and thereafter declined slightly. Mean plant height and dry weight plant(-1) were significantly decreased from 48.71 to 32.44 cm and from 1.73 to 0.61g plant(-1) respectively upon salinization. Na(+)/K(+) ratio (0.87 to 2.72), Na(+)/ Ca(2+) + Mg(2+) (0.48 to 1.54) and Cl(-)/SO4(2-) (0.94 to 5.04) ratio showed increasing trend. Salinity susceptibility index was found minimum in Suaeda fruticosa (0.72) and maximum in Parkinsonia aculeata (1.17). Total ionic content also declined and magnitude of decline varied from 8.51 to 18.91% at 8 dSm(-1) and 1.85 to 7.12% at 20 dSm(-1) of salinity. On the basis of phytoremediation potential Suaeda fruticosa (1170.02 mg plant(-1)), Atriplex lentiformis (777.87 mg plant(-1)) were the best salt hyperaccumulator plants whereas Xanthium strumarium (349.61 mg plant(-1)) and Parkinsonia aculeata (310.59 mg plant(-1)) were the least hyperaccumulator plants.

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