Response of Wheat Plants to Seed Pre-Soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide Solution under Salt Stress Conditions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Soil Salinity and Alkalinity Research Department; Soils, Water & Environment Research Institute; Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Alexandria, Egypt.

Abstract

Under arid and semi-arid condition of limited water resources, salinity is an important environmental constraint, affecting many crop productivity. The objective of this study is being suggested to examine the contribution of H2O2-presoaked seeds and salinity levels of irrigation water on growth and yield performance of wheat grown in different textured soils. To meet these objectives, the 3-way factorial experiment, comprising of 3 pre-soaking intervals (0, 24 and 36h), 3 different levels of saline irrigation water (500, 5000 and 8500 mg NaCl/L) was carried out in two different textured soils (sandy and clay soils), whereas wheat seeds were planted in cemented-bituminized plots (0.75 X 1.5 m) until the maturity stage. At tillering, random leaf samples were removed and analyzed for Na and K contents. At the harvest time, plant growth indices, including height and number of spikes/plot and yield components (straw and grain yields) were recorded.
The results have shown that plant growth characteristics and yield potentials were significantly suppressed with increasing the salinity stress of irrigation water, but the rate of decline varied considerably among all trails. The more depressive effects of the salinity exposure were clearly manifested on straw yield, being 74.6 and 85.6% at 5000 and 8500 mg NaCl/L, respectively. The pretreatment of seeds with H2O2 induced acclimation on the plants to salinity. It lessened the deleterious effect of salt stress on the growth of wheat especially when seeds were soaked in H2O2 for 36 h. This treatment caused relative increases in number of spikes /plot, grain yield, straw yield, defined by 44.5, 43.7, and 72.6%, respectively. Progressive results were achieved on all the studied plant criteria, giving better performance of the sand textured soil than the clay type. Superior wheat growth, maximum yield and highest K content were realized on wheat cultivated in sandy soil irrigated with saline water. Pretreatment of seeds with H2O2 for 24h induced acclimation of the plants to salinity. Moreover, seed priming with H2O2 for 36 h improved grain yield potentials and leaf K content in plants grown in sandy soil.

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