Wheat is one of the most consumed and produced cereals in the world, accounting for about 35% of world grain production. Due to genetic improvement, it is a cereal that has great capacity of adaptation to diverse edaphoclimatic conditions and resistance to abiotic factors. Among these, one of the factors of greatest concern in agriculture is soil salinity, which causes the reduction of plant development, and consequently impairs its production. In this context, the objective of this work was to study the influence of salinity on germination and initial growth of wheat seedlings. Throughout the simulation of saline stress, wheat seeds from cultivar IPR Catuara TM were used, and tested the following concentrations of NaCl: 0; 15; 30; 45; 100 e 200 mmol L -1 . The following determinations were analyzed: germination, length and dry mass of seedlings. For the statistical analysis, the statistical design was applied in a completely randomized design, with four replicates of 50 seeds, submitting the data to regression analysis. From the obtained results it can be concluded that: Up to the dose 100 mmol L -1 of NaCl, the germinative power of the seeds is above 80%; The seedling length is affected from 30 mmol L -1 and the seedling dry mass from 100 mmol L -1 , the dose 200 mmol L -1 of NaCl was considered extremely harmful for the initial growth of the culture.Wheat is one of the most produced cereals in the world, having great capacity of edaphoclimatic adaptation due to genetic improvement. Consequently, it is grown in various regions of the world, from those with desert climate, as is the case in some Middle Eastern countries, to regions with high rainfall, such as China and India [1]. Considering cereals used in animal feed, feed composition, and human consumption, wheat crop accounts for about 35% of world grain production [2]. Food consumption is part of the Brazilian economy and society on a daily basis, which is why the wheat production chain has a fundamental role, constituting in its final product bread, pasta, cookies and flour [3]. Agriculture faces problems worldwide due to population growth and food demand pressure, which significantly contribute to the expansion of areas with degraded or unsuitable soils such as saline soils [4]. Saline soils are the result of a series of factors combining human action with natural ones, such as: climatic (low rainfall and high evapotranspiration rate), edaphic (low salt leaching capacity and presence of impermeable layers) and soil management (irrigation with saline water, excess irrigation water, excessive use of agrochemicals) [5].