Salt tolerance analysis of chickpea, faba bean and durum wheat varieties. II. Durum wheat

• Published in: Agricultural water management 2005-04, Vol.72 (3), p.195-207
• Main Authors: Katerji, N, Hoorn, J.W. van, Hamdy, A, Mastrorilli, M, Nachit, M.M, Oweis, T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adaptation; Adaptation to environment and cultivation conditions; Agricultural and forest climatology and meteorology. Irrigation. Drainage; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; drought; drought tolerance; durum wheat; evapotranspiration; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; grain yield; irrigation water; Irrigation. Drainage; leaf water potential; osmotic adjustment; osmotic pressure; plant growth; plants; saline water; salt tolerance; senescence; Triticum turgidum; Varietal selection. Specialized plant breeding, plant breeding aims; varieties; water use efficiency
• ISSN: 0378-3774; 1873-2283
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2004.09.014

Seven varieties of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum), provided by ICARDA, were tested in a greenhouse experiment for their salt tolerance. Afterwards two varieties, differing in salt tolerance, were irrigated with waters of three different salinity levels in a lysimeter experiment to analyse their salt tolerance.The characteristics of the salt tolerant variety compared to the salt sensitive variety are:-a shorter growing season and earlier senescence; -a higher pre-dawn leaf water potential; -a stronger osmotic adjustment; -a better maintenance of the number of productive stems per plant.Salt tolerance of durum wheat corresponds with drought tolerance because the tolerance is caused by earlier senescence and stronger osmotic adjustment, both reducing the transpiration of the plant.