Germination and Seedling Development Performances of Some Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) Cultivars Under Salinity Stress

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the effects of different salt concentrations on the germination and seedling development parameters of some grain and forage soybean ?Glycine max (L.) Merrill? cultivars. The study was conducted under controlled conditions at the Field Crops Laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture in Siirt University. The subject of the research consists of different salt concentrations (S0= 0, S1= 50, S2= 100, S3= 150, and S4= 200 mM NaCl) applied to four different soybean cultivars (Adasoy, Nazlıcan, Yeşilsoy, and Anp- 2018). The laboratory experiment was set up in Petri dishes according to the randomized complete design with 4 replications. In the study, germination parameters such as germination percentage (%), mean germination time (days), germination index, germination uniformity coefficient, and germination energy, and some seedling parameters such as radicle and stem length (cm), seedling fresh and dry weight (mg) and seedling vigor index were examined. Significant differences have been found among the examined cultivars in terms of all the parameters considered in the evaluations. While Adasoy cultivar came to the fore front for germination parameters, Adasoy, Anp-2018, and Yeşilsoy cultivars came to the fore front in seedling development characteristics. In the study, the effect of salt concentrations on germination and seedling development parameters (except seedling dry weight) was statistically significant (p<0.01). Increasing salt concentrations negatively affected germination and seedling development. The research results indicate that soybean plants are tolerant up to a salt concentration of 50 mM during germination and seedling development stages. It was concluded that the cultivation of suitable cultivars is important in areas affected by salt stress, and in this regard, the Adasoy cultivar was identified as a cultivar that can be evaluated under 50-100 mM NaCl conditions.