Sensitivity of Seed Germination to Salt Stress in Teff [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter]

Teff is an annual grass originated in Ethiopia, grown for both human food and animal feed. Salinity and moisture stress are the main limiting factors of agricultural development on arid and semi-arid regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of salinity due to NaCl on germination of teff. A set of experiments was conducted under a completely randomized design with four replications of 200 seeds at two different suboptimal germination temperatures (15 and 25 °C) in the dark for 10 days. In order to create salt stress conditions during the germination process, seven solutions were used (0 as control, 80, 160, 240 and 320, 400 and 480 mM NaCl). The germination performance was evaluated by final germination percentage and mean germination time. The presence of NaCl reduced germination, especially above 240 mM for 15 °C and 400 mM for 25 °C. The mean germination time increased with higher NaCl levels.