Effect of Water Stress on Germination Indices in Seven Safflower Cultivar (Carthamus Tinctorius, L.)

摘要

Current estimates indicate that 25% of the worlds agricultural lands is now affected by water stress. Environmental stress, especially drought stress, can play an important role in the reduction of the plant growth stages, typically germination stagein arid and semi arid regions in Iran. More than 90 percent of Iranian domestic need for oil is imported. Safflower, one of the native and valuable oil seeds in Iran, is tolerant to drought and salinity. Its seeds contain 35% high-quality oil and 15% protein. One of the commonest experiments in germination of the seeds is the application of PEG. Many experiments have been done and the results have showed that plumule is more likely to be affected by water stress than other traits. Maliwal and Paliwal(1982) showed that under water stress, in grain legumes, mung bean and black gramand cluster bean both germination and height of seedlings were significantly decreased. Seeds of 10 cultivars of bean were exposed to six levels of water stress (0 , -0.2 , -0.4 , -0.6 , -0.8 and -1.0 MPa) induced by polyethylene glycol. Results showed that germination percentage decreased with increasing water stress (de Queiroz et .al, 1997). Cultivar Jalo, Precoce, and Onix were the most tolerant to water stress.