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DARK GREEN COLORED SEEDS INCREASE THE SEED VIGOR AND GERMINATION ABILITY IN DRY GREEN PEA (PISUM SATIVUM L.)

MEHMET ATAK^1*,  MEHMET DEMIR KAYA²,  GAMZE KAYA²,  MUHARREM KAYA³ AND KHALID MAHMOOD KHAWAR⁴

Abstract: Three green-seeded dry pea genotypes cvs. ‘Rondo’, ‘Carina’ and ‘Jof’ with each genotypes producing a mixture of light (L), medium (M) and dark (D) green seed at maturity were evaluated for their germination behavior and seedling growth for salinity tolerance. Electrical conductivities of NaCl solutions were 0.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, or 20.0 dS m^-1. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of green pea seed coat color from light to dark green on germination ability and seedling growth under varying salinity conditions. The results revealed that increased salinity levels generally resulted in decreased measurement of all the traits but mean germination time was increased with higher salinity levels. Of the three genotypes, cv. Carina had the highest germination percentage, shoot and root length, shoot fresh weight, root fresh weight, and the fastest mean germination time. Dark green colored seeds germinated faster than light ones. Additionally, the dark green colored seeds had the highest shoot and root length and fresh weight. The accelerated ageing (AA) and the electrical conductivity (EC) tests showed significant differences in seed vigor of cultivars and green color tones (p<0.01). The results of AA and EC tests confirmed that cv.  Carina was superior to the others in terms of seed vigor. Additionally, the dark green seeds of the cultivars showed higher seed vigor than that of light and medium. Our results suggest that cultivars with dark green colored seeds could be preferred on saline conditions due to their high seed vigor and seedling growth ability.

¹Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Mustafa Kemal Univesity, Hatay- Turkey,

²Central Field Crops Research, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yeni Mahalle, Ankara, Turkey,

³Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey,  ⁴Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ankara, Turkey.

^*Corresponding: E-mail: kmkhawar@gmail.com Tel: 0090 312 596 15 39, Fax: 0090 312 3182666