Response of Solanum lycopersicum L. Genotypes to Saline Stress on Seed Germination and Seedling Stage

Salt stress is one of the abiotic factors that restricted crop growth and productivity. One of the crucial approaches for addressing this issue is screening-based selection of germplasms that are resistant to salt stress. Seed germination and seedling development are the crucial stages of plant development that are most significantly affected by salt stress. The current study's objective is to compare the responses of 15 tomato genotypes to two different salt stress conditions. Experimental analysis of present research was carried in Agri-Science park laboratoty, Yogi Vemana University, YSR Kadapa at 2018. Tomato seeds were allowed to grow for ten days at control (non-saline), 75 mM and 125 mM salt stress conditions and analyzed the germination percentage, shoot lengths, root lengths, fresh weight, dry weight, and stress tolerance trait indices. All the studied variables have shown gradual decreases as a result of increased salt stress. The EC 251649, EC 251581, EC 164329, and EC 523851 genotypes has shown better germination than the other genotypes under tested stress conditions. The genotypes IC 164656 and EC 315478 have better fresh weight and dry weight under 125 mM salt stress, while the EC 177297 genotype has healthier root and shoot lengths among the studied germplasms. Our results revealed that a greater proportion of the variation in the parameters was accounted for type of germplasms. It can be inferred that seedling traits may serve as a valid criteria for choosing genotypes that are more tolerant of salinity stress at seedling stage.