Identifying Salt-Tolerant Chickpea Genotypes During Early Growth Stage Through Multi-Statistical Approaches and Stress Indices Under Saline Conditions

Salinity is an important environmental factor that jeopardizes productive agriculture in our world with the increasing human population, significantly limiting the production of food products and negatively affecting the growth and development of plants. In this study, eight chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes from Türkiye were germinated under salt stress such as sodium chloride (NaCl) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) at electrical conductivity levels (4, 8, 12 and 16 dS m-1) over a period of 10 days in order to evaluate seed germination, seedling morphological and mineral responses, and to determine tolerant genotypes, Salinity stress is considered as one of the major constraints in chickpea production, but our study revealed a remarkable diversity among the tested genotypes. Germination rates decreased significantly with increasing salinity levels. While germination rates of different chickpea genotypes were above 85% under control conditions, these rates varied between 21% and 91% at the highest salt treatment of 16 dS m-1 of both salts. Sodium, calcium and sulfur contents showed significant differences among the genotypes. As the salt concentrations increased, the Na/K ratio also increased. As a result, Gürdal, Aras and Katran genotypes were found to be more salt tolerant under NaCl and Na2SO4 treatments. Analysis using stress indices showed that it is an effective method to evaluate the tolerance of chickpea genotypes to salt stress. These findings can be used for future chickpea breeding programs and reclamation of saline areas.