Effect of Salinity Stress on Germination and Seedling Properties in Canola Cultivars (Brassica napus L.)

Germination and seedling responses of five rapeseed cultivars ('Elite', 'Fornax', 'Licord', 'Okapi', and 'SLM046') to salinity stress levels (0 cont, 5, 10, 15 and 20 dSm-1) evaluated in aRCBD base factorial design in three replicates in the glasshouse. Increasing Salinity decreased significantly rate and final germination, radicle and plumule length and fresh weight. The decreasing rate was different among cultivars. Salinity and cultivar interaction effect were significant in all attributes. Three parametric logistic regressions fitted the best estimation between germination and salinity levels. The highest and the lowest B coefficient belonged to 'Elite' and 'SLM046' that shows high and low susceptibility to salinity. Ld 50 threshold for germination for 'Elite' and 'SLM046' were 10.46 and 23.01 dSm-1, respectively. Tolerance ranking for cultivars was 'SLM046' > 'Okapi' > 'Fornax' > 'Licord' > 'Elite'. This classification belonged to early-season tolerance and it is necessary to study the next growth period to evaluate salinity tolerance rank among cultivars.