GERMINATION CHARACTERS OF SOME EGYPTIAN CLOVER (<i>Trifolium alexandrinaum</i> L.) CULTIVARS AS AFFECTED BY PRIMING UNDER SALINITY STRESS

A.A. KANDIL¹, A.E. SHARIEF², F.M. ABD EL-FATAH^3
1Agronomy Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Egypt.
²Agronomy Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Egypt.
³Central Administration for Seed certification (CASC), Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt.

Received : 27-01-2015     Accepted : 03-03-2015     Published : 01-09-2015
Volume : 4     Issue : 2       Pages : 162 - 169
World Res J Agron 4.2 (2015):162-169

Keywords : Egyptian clover, cultivars, varieties, priming, salinity levels, salinity stress, germination characters
Academic Editor : Saleh El-sayed El-sayed Seadh, E. Stoltz, Tim Vleugels
Conflict of Interest : None declared

In order to investigate the effect of priming and osmotic stress on Egyptian clover cultivars i.e. Serw 1, Sakha 4, Helaly and Gemmiza 1 at critical stage of germination to salinity concentrations i.e. 0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 mM NaCl, this study was conducted at Giza Central Seed Testing Laboratory of Central Administration for Seed Certification (CASC), Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt. Germination characters i.e. final germination percentage, germination index, germination speed and seedling vigor index were estimated. The results showed that highest means of final germination percentage, germination index, germination speed and seedling vigor index were produced from seed priming. Results revealed that Helaly or Serw 1 cultivars exceeded other studied cultivars in final germination percentage and germination speed, while Serw 1 or Gemmiza 1 cultivars surpassed other studied cultivars in seedling vigor index. Cumulative salinity levels from 0 to 240 mM NaCl significantly reduced all studied characters. The highest means of studied characters were obtained from seed priming under the control treatment. Whereas, the lowest means of these characters were produced from non-priming under highest salinity level 240 mM NaCl. Results clearly presented that all studied characters were significantly affected by the interaction between seed priming and Egyptian clover cultivars. Final germination percentage and germination index significantly affected by the interaction between seed priming and salinity concentrations. All studied characters were significantly affected by the interaction between Egyptian clover cultivars and salinity concentrations. Germination index, germination speed and seedling vigor index were significantly affected by the interaction among seed priming, studied cultivars and salinity concentrations. It could be concluded that for maximizing germination characters of Egyptian clover under priming treatments and salinity stress, it could be recommended that priming seed and Serw 1 or Gemmiza 1 cultivars. These cultivars were more tolerant to salinity and could be used in Egyptian clover program for enhancing production under new reclaimed soils in Egypt.