Effect of Salinity on Germination and Some Agro-morphological Traits in Chickpea Seedlings

Salinity is a global problem threatening all agriculture lands on the World. The 700 x 107 ha land is arable on the world, of which 150 x 107 ha can be cultivated, 34 x 107 ha is saline and, 56 x 107 ha is sodic. Moreover, it was reported that salt-affected areas are increasing by the day. Chickpea which is one of the most produced agricultural products overall the World is a sensitive genus to salt stress, like the other members of grain legumes. So, the aim of the study is to understand the effects of salinity on chickpea and variations in showed responses by cultivars in the early seedling stage. The 7 cultivars, including Diyar-95, Arda, Sarı-98, Yaşa-05, Hisar, Çakır and Aydın-92 and 3 NaCl doses (control, 50 mM and 100 mM) were used as a factor in the study. The experiment laid out in completely randomized design (CRD) with 6 replications. The investigated traits in the study were noteworthy affected by increasing NaCl doses. According to results, the maximum and minimum reduction rates in germination percentage, plant height, number of branches, stem diameter and fresh weight compared with the control were calculated as 8.4-39.6%, 10.5-36.7%, 15.1-43.3%, 8.4-31.0% and 12.5-42.5%, respectively. The present study indicated that cultivars exhibited a large variation in terms of responding to salinity. In addition, it was observed that Çakır and Arda cultivars were tolerant of salinity while Diyar-95 and Sarı-98 were susceptible. Consequently, the early seedling characteristics of different genotypes can be used as a substantial indicator of breeding programs.