Salinity episodes that are common in arid regions, characterized by dryland, are adversely affecting crop production worldwide. This study evaluated the effectiveness of brassinolide (BL) in ameliorating salinity stress imposed on soybean at four levels (control (1.10), 32.40, 60.60 and 86.30 mM/L NaCl) in factorial combination with six BL application frequency (control (BL0), application at seedling (BL1), flowering (BL2), podding (BL3), seedling + flowering (BL4) and seedling + flowering + podding (BL5)) stages. Plant growth attributes, seed yield, and N, P, K, Ca and Mg partitioning to leaves, stems and roots, as well as protein and seed-N concentrations, were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced by salinity stress. These trends were ascribed to considerable impairments in the photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetically active radiation, leaf stomatal conductance and relative water content in the leaves of seedlings under stress. The activity of peroxidase and superoxidase significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased with salinity. Foliar spray with BL significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved the photosynthetic attributes, as well as nutrient partitioning, under stress, and alleviated ion toxicity by maintaining a favourable K+/Na+ ratio and decreasing oxidative damage. Foliar spray with brassinolide could sustain soybean growth and seed yield at salt concentrations up to 60.60 mM/L NaCl.
Keywords: Glycine max (L.); antioxidants; arid region; brassinolide; dryland; saline stress.