Evaluation Salt Tolerance in Earliness Genotypes of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) at Seedling Stage

Abstract

In order to evaluate salt tolerance in seedling stage, seeds of 11 hybrid and new varieties of cotton, compared to commercial cultivars of Golestan as control were planted in pot. Factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted at the Cotton Research Institute of Iran in 2014. The first factor was salinity levels and the second factor was 12 genotypes. The characteristics were included: germination percentage, seedling height, seedling fresh and dry weight, dry weight of shoot and also water in root and stem tissue was observed among genotypes. The results showed that the genotypes studied traits measured showed significant differences at 1% or 5%. Different level of salt water reduce plant high and length of shoot and root. Irrigation of pots by salt water decreased root and stem weight, while among genotypes studied SB8 was superior the percentage of germination, shoot length, root fresh weight and dry weight of seedlings in view of other genotypes and 8S26, S29 were superior in view of shoot fresh weight and water content than control. Correlation coefficient was positive and significant between germination and stem and root length. Also, the length of the stem with other traits such as root length, root dry weight were positive and significant. Regression analysis revealed that root and shoot dry weight suitable criterion for selection is salt tolerant cultivars.