The effects of different salt concentrations on germination and seedling development of some silage corn and sweet sorghum varieties

This study was carried out to determine the germination performance of different silage corn (Zea mays L.) and sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor var. saccharatum) cultivars at different salt concentrations. Larigal MF, Apex MF and AGM 1644 MF silage corn varieties and ERDURMUŞ, UZUN and M81-E sweet sorghum varieties were selected as experimental plants. In the study, control and 6 different salinity doses (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 dS/m) were prepared and the experimental design was carried out in a factorial pattern with 3 replications according to the randomized plot design.The effect of salt stress on germination rate, plant height, shoot length, root length, shoot moisture content and root moisture rate was observed. According to the results obtained, negative effects were observed on root length, shoot length, plant height, root and shoot fresh and dry weights and germination rate as the salt concentration in the germination environment increased in both silage corn and sweet sorghum cultivars. In all these parameters, the highest efficiency was observed in the control groups, while the lowest results were observed in the samples exposed to the highest salt concentration. When the salinity tolerance of the plants is examined, it is seen that silage corn cultivar AGM 1644. MF has a higher tolerance than the other two cultivars on the basis of all parameters, especially the germination rate. When the results are examined, all 3 varieties can tolerate salt stress and continue their development, albeit with a lower yield. When sweet sorghum cultivars are examined, it is seen that M81-E presents higher performance than other cultivars in terms of all parameters. Especially on the basis of germination rate, it has a high rate even at the highest salinity level. Sweet sorghum cultivars were adversely affected at each increasing salinity level, but continued their development by exhibiting lower values.