Evaluation of some triticale genotypes under different salt concentrations at germination and early seedling stage

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the current investigation is to study the effect of salinity on triticale genotypes at germination and early seedling stage. Nine triticale genotypes were used. Six salt concentrations i.e. control, 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 mM NaCl were applied. Results indicated that increasing salinity concentrations negatively affected the studied traits. The genotypes Zhongsi 10841048, C6, C23 and C25 had better performance for germination rate, germination vigor index, germination percentage, mean daily germination and relative salt injury. Highly significant positive correlations were revealed among the traits including germination rate, germination vigor index, germination percentage, mean daily germination, seedling vigor index and root length indicating the importance of these traits for selection of salt tolerance genotypes at germination stage. PCA was able to group the most desirable genotypes into two clusters.