The effects of epibrassinolide seed applications on some germination and seedling growth characteristic in chickpea under salinity stress conditions

This study was carried out to determine the effects of epibrassinolide (eBR) seed treatments on some germination and seedling growth characteristics of chickpea under salinity stress conditions. Germination tests were carried out in field crop laboratories, and seedling tests were carried out in pots under greenhouse conditions. Both experiments were established in 2022. Azkan chickpea seeds were used as plant material in the experiment. In the study, seeds were treated for 6 hours before sowing with distilled water and different doses of eBR (0.5, 1 and 1.5 µM eBR). Control seeds and treated seeds were taken into germination and pot experiment at 3 different salt doses (0.0, 8.6 and 16.3 dS/m NaCl). Differences between salt doses and seed applications were found to be significant in the mean germination rate and seedling dry weight in the laboratory experiments, and emergence rate and mean emergence time characteristics in the pot trials. In other characteristics, salt doses × seed applications interaction was important. Germination time 66.11-93.33%, germination rate 71.11-93.33%, mean germination time 3.81-4.36 days, seedling root length 6.24-7.08 cm, seedling shoot length 3.49-4.42 cm, seedling fresh weight 4.08-4.85 g, seedling dry weight 1.032 -1.106 g, pot emergence rate 50.22-68.44%, average emergence time 10.48-11.86 days, salinity 37.62-41.70%, pot seedling length 13.14-16.22 cm, pot seedling root length 15.68-18.69 cm, pot seedling fresh weight 9.36- 19.75 g, potted seedling dry weight 2.30-375 g and salinity tolerance percentage ranged between 71-85.9%. According to the results of the study, increasing salt doses in chickpeas affected the germination and seedling growth characteristics negatively. Seed applications were effective in reducing salinity damage. Generally, the 1.5 µM eBR dose had the highest averages for the characteristics discussed.