Evaluation of the effect of priming on germination and growth characteristics of sugar beet cultivars (Beta Vulgaris L) under salinity conditions

This study aims to investigate the effect of priming treatments (control without priming, hydropriming, priming with 0.25% potassium nitrate and priming with 0.5% potassium nitrate) on the germination characteristics of sugar beet cultivars and growth characteristics under five levels of salinity (0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 dS/m) on germination and seedling growth in four replicates in a petri dish in laboratory conditions as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design. The results showed that the effect of seed priming and salinity stress on the average germination time, germination speed coefficient, germination variance, germination uniformity, root length, stem length, stem and root dry weight, water content relatively, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids were significant. The results showed that in all three genotypes, the number of germinated seeds decreased with the increase in salinity level, and in the control levels and the use of water as a priming factor, this decrease was moderated. With the increase of salt concentration up to 12 ds level, the relative water content increased sigmoidally and showed a relatively stable trend at two levels of 12 and 16 ds. In most of the investigated traits, Shokofa variety has shown less reaction than other genotypes. In the investigation of the reaction process of genotypes to the speed, variance and homogeneity of germination in prime and salinity levels, it has shown a decrease with increasing salinity concentration.