Assessment of germination indices for Vicia monantha under salinity and drought stresses

Vicia monantha is an important Legume that produces part of required forage for livestock from early spring to summer. Germination is an important stage of plant growth which is often sensitive to environmental stresses including water and salinity stresses. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of salinity and drought stresses on seed germination of Vicia monantha. We applied a factorial trial under completely randomized design using six salinity treatments (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 300 mM of NaCl) and six drought treatments (0, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6, -0.8, 1 MP of PEG) separately. Results showed a significant effect of both stresses on seed germination indices. The percentage of germination, seed germination rate and plumule and radicle length, coefficient of alometri, dry weight of plumule, seed vigour, significantly reduced under both stresses. We found seed germination in most of understudy salinity levels whereas few drought treatments showed seed germination. Therefore, it seems this species is more sensitive to drought stress than salinity.