Evaluation of the most important parameters in chickpea seed germination (Azad cultivar) under vermicompost extract and drought stress conditions

Germination is a vital stage in the life cycle of plants and plays an essential role in seedling establishment and seed yield. In order to evaluate the interaction of vermicompost extract and drought stress on germination indices of chickpea plant, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications at Khatam-ul-Anbia University of Technology in Behbahan. The study treatments were: vermicompost extract with levels of 0, 10, 15 and 20% by volume and drought stress with treatments of 0, -0.3, -0.6 and -0.9 MPa. Drought stress was induced by PEG 6000. The results showed that the interaction of vermicompost extract and drought stress on all germination indices was significant in chickpea seeds. In conditions without drought stress and stress of -0.3 MPa, application of vermicompost extract at levels of 10 and 15% by volume causes a significant increase in all studied indices such as germination percentage, germination speed and germination vigor, seed vigor index, endosperm consumption, length plumule and radicle, seedling length, plumule and radicle dry weight. The results under stress conditions of -0.6 MPa showed that the application of 10, 15 and 20% levels could have a positive and significant effect on germination percentage, germination speed and germination vigor, seedling length and plumule length compared to the control treatment. Under these conditions, levels of 10 and 15% of the extract significantly improved radicle dry weight, radicle length and seed vigor index compared to the control treatment. Under -0.9 MPa, the use of vermicompost extract at all levels caused a significant increase in germination percentage, germination speed and germination vigor compared to the control. In general, the results of this study showed that drought stress significantly reduced all the studied traits, but the use of vermicompost extract (especially levels of 10 and 15%) significantly increased germination percentage, germination rate, germination vigor, seed vigor index, cotyledon consumption, plumule and radicle length, seedling length, plumule and radicle dry weight were compared with control treatment (without using vermicompost extract).