ABSTRACT
Abstract. Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress on field crops and is a serious problem globally. It occurs due to natural soil characteristics, inundations of salt water onto land, and use of irrigation water high in salt ions. Salinity reduces plant growth and decreases crop yield and quality and can result in plant death. Induced mutation is an important source of genetic variation in living organisms and can have a positive effect on increasing stress to saline conditions. However, mutation methods and mutagenic agents are important to target traits of interest to the breeder. Currently, mutation breeding is responsible for the release of
more than 3200 varieties. Among them, 15 salttolerant varieties were developed almost entirely by induced ionizing radiation from gamma rays. Breeding salt-tolerant cultivars is important for producing sustainable food, fiber, biofuel, and shelter in the face of increased global salinity as time progresses. Therefore, knowledge of salt tolerance and use of mutation breeding could contribute to the development of salt-tolerant plant cultivars.
