The shoot length measured in present investigation
showed variations from 14.50 cm (Raj 3077) to 16.83 cm
(PBW 550) and 11.83 cm (PBW 502) to 15.83 cm (PBW509) under control and heat stress conditions, respectively
(Table 1). Hall (2001) suggested that major impact of high
temperature on shoot growth causes a severe reduction in
the first internodes’ length resulting in premature death of
plants. The range of root length under control conditions
was narrow, i.e. 10.0 cm (DBW 116) to 12.33 cm (WH
1021), but under heat stress it varied from 8.5 (DBW 116)
to 10.67 cm (Raj 4037). Interestingly, the genotypes
exhibiting higher shoot dry weight generally maintained
high root length after treating with high temperature. It
indicates that root length may be one of the important parameters to help the plant in adjusting under heat stress
conditions.