Abstract
Salt stress is a condition that causes physiological changes in several species, the identifying cultivars tolerant to such conditions is essential to high salinity environments. The objective was to evaluate the physiological quality of seeds of chickpea cultivars to salt stress during germination and seedling growth. Two cultivars (‘BRS Cícero’ and ‘BRS Aleppo’) and five osmotic potentials simulated with sodium chloride solutions (0.0; -0.2; -0.4; -0.6 and -0.8 MPa), were evaluated by the test of germination speed index, mean germination time, epicotyl and primary root length, epicotyl and primary root fresh mass, epicotyl and the primary root dry mass of the seeds were evaluated. Significant interactions were found for all variables, indicating that there are cultivars with specific performance for a particular salt condition, and the simulated salt stress conditions negatively affected germination and seedling growth. Osmotic potentials of less than -0.4 MPa are harmful to the germination and growth of chickpea seedlings. The ‘BRS Cícero’ seeds showed a higher salt tolerance than ‘BRS Aleppo’. The cultivar BRS Aleppo has a longer epicotyl length compared to 'BRS Cícero' when subjected to the same conditions of salt stress.
Highlights
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important source of protein produced in many arid and semi-arid regions (Chauhan et al, 2017), occupying fifth place in the international production of legumes (Merga & Raji, 2019).The cultivation of chickpeas in northern Minas Gerais state (Brazil) is recommended to be carried out in the dry season in winter due to the advantage of the end of the rains or using supplementary irrigation (Avelar et al, 2018)
It was observed that, the lack of salinity resulted in an estimated average germination of 100% in the seeds of the chickpea cultivars BRS Cícero and BRS Aleppo (Figure 1A). These values were not maintained when NaCl was added to the substrate, negatively affecting seed germination as NaCl concentration increased, that is, as the osmotic potential became more negative
The results reveal the importance of evaluating the osmotic potentials of the substrate, which are considered critical for the germination of seeds and growth of chickpea seedlings
Summary
The cultivation of chickpeas in northern Minas Gerais state (Brazil) is recommended to be carried out in the dry season in winter due to the advantage of the end of the rains or using supplementary irrigation (Avelar et al, 2018). Such irrigation comes mostly from artesian wells whose water is considered saline. The use of saline water is a limiting factor for agricultural production, in arid and semi-arid regions (Dias et al, 2016) due to the conditions of low rainfall and high balance of solar energy. According to Kumar et al (2018), chickpeas are highly affected by salt stress
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