Soil salinization poses a significant challenge to the sustainability and productivity of agriculture worldwide. This issue continues to hinder plant growth, requiring innovative solutions to alleviate salt stress. Moreover, climate change accelerates soil salinization, which may soon spread to previously unaffected agricultural areas. Therefore, the present study evaluated the potential role of different seed priming agents (hydro (H), salicylic acid (SA), proline (P), and melatonin (MEL)) on seedlings and leaf macro and micronutrients of sorghum grown under four (.27, 2.5, 5.0, and 8.0 dS m⁻¹) soil salinity conditions. Soil salinity drastically reduced all the growth parameters of sorghum seedlings, primarily the reduction in growth traits, which was remarkable after 2.5 dS m⁻¹ soil salinity. In addition, plant height, shoot fresh weight, and stomata were reduced by 40.8%, 74.6%, and 36.5%, respectively, at 8.0 dS m⁻¹ compared to .27 dS m⁻¹. SA‐ and MEL‐primed seeds mitigated the harmful effects of soil salinity by reducing Na⁺ accumulation in the leaves and increasing the K⁺/Na⁺ and Ca²⁺/Na⁺ ratios and photosynthetic activity under salt stress. However, the Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Cu²⁺ contents of sorghum leaves increased with increasing soil salinity, and these nutrients also improved with seed priming by SA, MEL, and P. Considering all nutrients, MEL‐primed sorghum seeds had better macro‐ and micro‐nutrient uptake capacities than the H, SA, and P treatments under high soil salinity conditions. Finally, the present study showed that MEL‐induced improvement in salt tolerance in sorghum seedlings was related to enhanced nutritional status, photosynthetic activity, and biomass production in salinized areas.

Food sustainability is continuously restricted by water shortage and poor water quality in water-scarce regions. In this study, a pot experiment was carried out under rain shelter conditions to quantify the impact of the different levels of water salinity on the yield, leaf nutrients, and growth traits of garden cress under different water-deficit levels. Twelve treatments included three water-deficit (WD) levels (I₀, I₁, and I₂ indicating 100, 80, and 60% of field capacity, respectively) in combination with four saline irrigation water levels (IWS) (S₁, S₂, S₃, and S₄, indicating 0.38, 2, 4, and 8 dSm⁻¹, respectively). Also, multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict garden cress yield using WD, IWS, and soil salinity (EC_e) parameters in different combinations. The results showed that yield, leaf area, stomata, chlorophyll content, leaf Ca²⁺, K⁺, K⁺/Na⁺, and Ca²⁺/Na⁺ markedly decreased under water deficit and water salinity interaction. The highest and lowest EC_e values were observed at the I₂S₄ (8.67 dSm⁻¹) and I₀S₁ (0.88 dSm⁻¹) treatments. The highest yield was found at I₀S₁ (166.1 g pot⁻¹), and it was 49.8% and 62.0% higher than I₁S₄ and I₂S₄ treatments. The developed models have R² larger than 0.92, showing that they could provide a valuable tool for evaluating and estimating the garden cress productivity under different WD and IWS conditions. Finally, we conclude that WD (80% of FC or lower) combined with a higher IWS of 0.38 dSm⁻¹ is not recommended for irrigating garden cress, which will cause considerable yield and commercial quality reduction of garden cress plants.

Abiotic stress factors encountered in production lands influence both the yield and the quality traits of bread wheat. This study investigated the effects of three different water table depths (30, 55, and 80 cm) and four different groundwater salinity levels (0.38, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 dSm⁻¹) on some quality traits of bread wheat under irrigated and unirrigated conditions. The experiments were conducted in the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons in randomized blocks—factorial (three factors) experimental design with three replications under controlled conditions. The hectoliter weight, fat ratio, starch ratio, protein content, Zeleny sedimentation, wet gluten content, ash ratio, acid detergent fiber (ADF), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) values were investigated. The hectoliter weights varied between 66.1% and 77.8 kg, fat ratios between 1.49% and 1.70%, starch ratios between 61.9% and 67.8%, protein contents between 11.9% and 13.8%, Zeleny sedimentation values between 23.5 and 28.0 mL, wet gluten contents between 25.0% and 28.8%, ash ratios between 1.43% and 1.75%, and ADF values between 2.85% and 4.12%. The quality traits were positively influenced by increasing the water table depths. With increasing the groundwater salinity levels, the hectoliter weight, fat ratio, starch ratio, and NDF values decreased, while the protein ratio, sedimentation value, wet gluten content, ash ratio, and ADF values increased.