Changes in germination and seedling growth of different cultivars of cumin to drought stress

Abstract

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) is one the most appropriate choice for investing in dry and semi dry areas. In order to analyse influence of drought stress on germination and seedling growth of two masses of cumin, an experiment was conducted in seed technology laboratory of Faculty of Agriculture of Islamic Azad University of Isfahan, in 2016. In this experiment, polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000) at six levels (0, -0.144, -0.18, -0.216 and -0.288 MP) and NaCl at six levels (0, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 ds/m) and distilled water as control were applied to investigate the influence of dryness and salinity stresses on seed germination and seedling growth of two cultivars of cumin plant masses gathered from Mashhad-e-Ardahal and Kerman, then fulfilled in two separate factorial trials, on the basis of randomized design with four replications. Cultivar had significant influence on germination percentage, germination uniformity, radicle length, plumule length, fresh radicle weight, dry radicle weight, fresh and dry plumule weight. Drought stress impact on all treatments, except germination uniformity, fresh radicle weight and dry radicle weight was meaningful, but, just radicle length, plumule length, fresh plumule weight and dry plumule weight significantly affected by interaction between cultivar and drought stress. The rate of germination, germination percentage, as well as seedling growth and establishment were considerably lowered with the rise of stress levels using PEG. Control treatment had obtained the highest germination percentage, mean time of germination, radicle and plumule length, fresh plumule weight and seed stamina index. Taking all traits into account, this experiment found that Mashhad-e-Ardahal was most tolerant hybrid to water stress conditions.