Harris et al., (1999) soaked the maize seeds for 8 hrs in distilled water and in 200ppm of NaCl, KCl, and CaCl2 to alleviate the adverse effects of salt stress on maize at germination stage and found that CaCl2 proved to be more effective, showing higher germination per cent, rate of germination and fresh and dry weights of plumules and radicles than those primed with other salts and distilled water.