Water Salinity Tolerance of Egyptian Barley Cultivars

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out in a greenhouse at the Agricultural Research Station, Alexandria University in the two successive winter seasons of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. To study the performance of 15 Egyptian barley cultivars of divergent genetic constitution to saline irrigation water of 0, 6000, and 12000 ppm NaCl. The statistical design was a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design of four replications in the two seasons. Obtained results indicated that water salinity reduced all physiological, yield, and yield component traits in all cultivars, except days to maturity and grain filing period which were increased by increasing salinity level. Grain yield per pot was reduced by 54.46 % at 6000 ppm by 66.39% at 12000 ppm, as an average of all cultivars. That reduction was a result of the reduction in main yield components such as the number of grains per spike and 100-grain weight. A significant cultivar x salinity level interaction was detected for all studied characters indicating that the genetic constitution of cultivars played an important role in the resilience of cultivars under salinity stress conditions. The yield index, as an indicator of stress tolerance, indicated that cultivars G136, G2000, and G130 were salt tolerant at the highest salinity level and those cultivars have the potential of producing suitable yields in marginal areas characterized by high soil salinity or saline water sources.