467EFFECT OF SEED PRIMING ON SALT TOLERANCE OF BREAD WHEAT (TRITICUMAESTIVUML.) VARIETIESIt has been established that soil salinity is a major factor which effect reduce plant growth and productivity predominantly in semi-arid and arid regions which depend on irrigated agriculture. Now, two wheat (Triticumaestivum L.) varieties, Kakaba and Paven-76, from Kulumsa Agricultural Research center at MelkaWorer, which was identified as an area disposed to soil salinity with the use of irrigation water. Assuming that seed priming could improve salt tolerance, a follow up experiment was conducted where the seeds of the two wheat varieties were primed, for 12h, with either distilled water, KNO3 (1 or 2%) or CaCl2 (1 or 2%) and unprimed (dry) seeds were used as a control. The seeds were then sown in pots that contain soils of 2.31, 5.97, 9.62, 13.28 or 16.94 dS/m. For each variety, independent experiments were conducted in a 6 X 5 factorial combination, in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. The results indicated that seed priming treatments significantly (P < 0.001) improved the salt stress tolerance of seeds of both varieties. Although grain yield in both of the varieties significantly decreased with an increase in soil salt concentration, the seed priming treatments were able to improve grain yield compared with the control. Generally, the results of the present study indicated that seed priming could improve performance of the two wheat varieties if grown in salt affected soil. In addition, there are varietal differences between the two varieties and genotypic differences in salt tolerance within each variety. Therefore, in addition to seed priming, considering the importance of seed priming, choice of priming chemicals, exploitation of the genotypic variation within a variety for developing more salt tolerant lines through intensive selection could be recommended for future work.johnbarnabas@gmail.comResearch632016Calcium chloride,Distilled water,Potassium nitrate,Seed priming,Soil salinity,VigorTesfaye Dugasa,Bekele Abebie,R.P.S.Tomer,BarnabasGambella University, Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gambella P.O Box.126, Ethiopia.,Harmaya University, School of Plant Sciences, Dire Dewa, P.O Box 138, Ethiopia.,Harmaya University, School of Plant Sciences, Dire Dewa, P.O Box 138, Ethiopia.,Gambella University, Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gambella P.O Box.126, Ethiopia.