Canola seed germination and seedling initial growth under conditions of salinity

Abstract

An environmental factor that limits crop productivity is referred to as a stress. Salinity in soil or in wa­ter is one of major stresses and can severely limit crop production. The genus Brassica involves a considerable number of economical and nutritional valuable crops.  All those species are sensitive to salinity conditions.  Germination is the most critical period for a crop subjected to salinity. The objec­tive of this study was to evaluate canola seed germination and seedling growth under conditions of salinity.  Canola seeds of the cultivars Hyola 61 and Hyola 433 were submitted to conditions of 0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, and 0.25 mol L^-1 of NaCl during a germination test under the temperature of 20 °C for 7 days.  Seed germination counting was performed five and seven days after sowing.  The experiment was set according to a completely random design with four repetitions.  Seed quality factor (cultivar) means were compared by the Tukey’s test whereas for those of the quantitative factor (salinity levels) regression equations were adjusted.  Salinity resulting from NaCl reduces canola seed germination with more expressive effects at 0,25 mol L^-1 and seedling root and shoot growth.  The most sensitive cultivar to salinity was Hyola 61.