Germination and Seedling Properties of Different Wheat Cultivars under Salinity Conditions

Salinity effects were evaluated on seed germination and seedling growth of four bread wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) including ‘Taro’, ‘Shoa’, ‘Chamran’ and ‘S-78-11’. The seeds were subjected to four levels of electrical conductivity (EC) 0.0, 4.0, 8.0 and 12.0 ds m-2. The measured factors consisted of germination percentage, speed of germination, shoot and root dry weight and shoot and root lengths. The experiment was arranged as split plot based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications (NaCl levels as main plot and cultivars as sub-plots). By increasing NaCl concentration, seed germination delayed and decreased in all cultivars. The lowest germination percentage took place in ‘Shoa’ cultivar and the highest germination in ‘S-78-11’ cultivar. The largest shoot length was observed in the control (no salt) condition. Increasing NaCl concentrations adversely affected plumule and radicle dry weight in each cultivar; shoot dry weight fluctuated by varying NaCl concentrations. The lowest value found in ‘Shoa’ cultivar. Regarding the relationship between speed of germination and seed vigour, salt stress decreased seed vigour of wheat cultivars. ‘S-78-11’ was a superior cultivar under all salinity levels.