Evaluation of Salinity Resistance in Primed Wheat Under Conditions of Super Absorbent Polymer

Abstract

Salinity and drought are among the most important factors reducing the production potential in agricultural land and the development of salinity and drought resistant variants can be helpful in reducing the problem in arid and dry climates. To investigate the effect of super absorbent polymers on wheat plant resistance (Pishtaz cultivar), the factorial experiment was carried out in the form of complete random design with four iterations on the germination and initial growth of seedling in conditions without stress (control) and under the osmotic potential conditions caused by sodium chloride. The studied factors included seed priming at two levels and levels of salinity at 5 levels of 0, 8, 12 and 16 (bar) using sodium chloride and based on van’t Hoff law. In the second experiment, the germination and initial growth of seedling were investigated for 7 days in no-stress conditions (control) and under conditions of osmotic potential (3, 6, 9, 12 bar) caused by sodium chloride and polyethylene glycol 6000. The results showed that the seedling weight loss in response to salinity is due to the reduction of the amount of supplies transferred from the seeds and efficiency of the use of seed supplies. The higher seedling weight loss in prime seeds, compared to nonprime seeds, is due to the higher level of seed supplies transferred from seeds, use of seed supplies and the efficiency of the use of seed food supplies in prime plants in salinity and no-stress conditions. The mean period of germination decreased by using seed priming. While stress conditions cause considerable delay in the germination. The mean time of germination in the sodium chloride solution was shorter compared to the Polyethylene glycol solution and the same osmotic potential. These results showed the useful effects of the super absorbents in increasing the seed resistance during the germination period.