Tolerance of Triticum aestivum L(Bread Wheat) varieties, for growth yield in high salinity soils of Ethiopia

Tesfaye Dugasa; Bekele Abebie; R.P.S.Tomer; John Barnabas

Volume : V, Issue : III, March - 2016

Tolerance of Triticum aestivum L(Bread Wheat) varieties, for growth yield in high salinity soils of Ethiopia

Tesfaye Dugasa, Bekele Abebie, R. P. S. Tomer, John Barnabas

Abstract :

<p>&nbsp;Soil salinity is one of the factors that reduce plant growth and productivity particularly in semi&ndash;arid and arid regions of the world that mostly depend on irrigated agriculture. Currently, multiplication of two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties, Kakaba and Paven&ndash;76, from Kulumsa Agricultural Research center, using irrigation is underway at MelkaWorer, one of the areas prone to soil salinity with the use of irrigation water. Pot experiments were conducted in uncontrolled glass house at Melkassa Agricultural Research center to determine the effects of soil salinity on performance of the two wheat varieties. For each variety, independent experiments were conducted in a 2 X 5 factorial combination, in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. The seeds were then sown in pots that contain soils of 2.31, 5.97, 9.62, 13.28 or 16.94 dS/m. In Kakaba, significant differences in germination percentage, speed of germination, shoot length, root length, root to shoot ratio, seedling dry weight, vigor Index I, and vigor Index II of seedlings were observed when the seeds were grown at soil salt concentration of 2.31(control), 5.97, 9.62, 13.28 and 16.94 dS/m. The maximum (97%) and minimum (19.75%) germination percentages were recorded in the control and at 13.28 dS/m. No seed germinated at soil salinity level of 16.94 dS/m. Similar results in variety Paven&ndash;76 were also observed except that the maximum (98%) and minimum ( 41.25%) germination percentage values were recorded in the control (2.31 dS/m) and at 9.62 dS/m, respectively. Grain yield was positively correlated with germination percentage, speed of germination, field emergence index, growth rates, and vigor index and yield components. In addition, there are varietal differences between the two varieties and genotypic differences in salt tolerance within each variety. Therefore, exploitation of the genotypic variation within a variety for developing more salt tolerant lines through intensive selection could be recommended for future work.</p>