Tolerance of forage pea cultivars to salinity and drought stress during germination and seedling growth

Abstract

The germination and seedling characteristics of six forage pea cultivars were investigated under different levels of salinity (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 dS/m) and drought (0, -2, and -4 bar) stresses. All characteristics of germination and seedling growth varied by cultivar, salinity and drought levels, and their interactions. With high seedling lengths overall, Özkaynak, Ulubatlı, and Töre cultivars demonstrated low reduction rates in seedling length when salinity reached 15 dS/m, whereas the Taşkent cultivar’s reduction rate increased considerably at that level of salinity, as did Ürünlü and Gölyazı cultivars. Meanwhile, the Gölyazı cultivar had high fresh and dry weights, despite high reduction rates in fresh weight, similar to the Taşkent cultivar. Though the Ulubatlı cultivar had the shortest seedlings, they exhibited a low reduction rate in seedling length at -2 bar of drought stress, as did Töre and Özkaynak cultivars. At that level of drought stress, those cultivars also indicated low reduction rates in fresh weight. Altogether, the Töre cultivar best tolerated salinity and drought conditions, the Özkaynak cultivar showed promise as well, whereas Taşkent and Gölyazı cultivars were the most sensitive to the conditions.