Abstract
Salinity is the major constraint that decreases the yield and production of crops. Wheat has a significant value in agricultural food commodities. The germination and growth of wheat seedlings are a big challenge in salt-affected soils. The seed priming technique is used to mitigate salt stress and enhance the germination and growth of the crops. Therefore, the current study was conducted to evaluate the hydropriming of natural plant extract (moringa leaf extract) and water on wheat seeds and grown under different saline (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 M NaCl) environments. The germination attributes (germination percentage, germination index, mean germination day, coefficient of variance, vigor index) and seedling growth (fresh weight, dry weight, root length, shoot length) were enhanced in the plants primed by moringa leaf extract. The germination percentage was observed 10% more at 0.2 M NaCl stress in seeds treated with moringa leaf extract than seeds treated with water. The nutrient (K, Ca, Mg, P, S, Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Cu) uptake was also observed more in the shoots and roots of wheat seedlings soaked in moringa leaf extract as compared to soaked in water. Controlled plants showed higher concentrations of toxic ions (Na) and reactive oxygen species (H2O2) in shoots and roots of wheat seedlings. The use of moringa leaf extract for priming wheat seeds will enhance their germination and growth by maintaining efficient nutrient uptake and restricting the toxic ions and reactive oxygen species accumulation.
Highlights
In arid and semiarid environments, due to climate change, abiotic stresses are a major threat to plants, commercial crops
Germination parameters (GP) (GI), (MGR), (CVt), and (VI) were dropped with a percentage difference 37%, 63%, 32%, 1%, and 93%, respectively, at 0.2 M NaCl under the effect of moringa soaking
Significant differences (p < 0.05) between treatments in Germination percentage (GP), germination index (GI), vigor index (VI), fresh weight, dry weight, root length, and shoot length under both soaking methods according to the Tukey test
Summary
In arid and semiarid environments, due to climate change, abiotic stresses are a major threat to plants, commercial crops. Salinity is one of the major factors that affect plant health and its production [1]. Wheat is one of the main food security crops in many countries around the world, including Qatar. Qatar’s wheat production is deficient, and the productivity of the improved local bread wheat cultivar, Doha-88, is estimated at 2 tons/ha [2]. This low productivity is mainly due to the lack of well-adapted wheat varieties and suitable production technologies
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