Determining Drought Tolerance of New Fodder Pea and Persian Clover Genotypes At the Germination and Early Seedling Stages

Abstract

This research was conducted to study the effect of drought stress induced by D-Mannitol on seed germination and early seedling growth of four Persian clover genotypes namely S, Y, AY, Kr and four fodder pea genotypes namely Tore, Ates, 16-K and 16. The experiments were conducted as factorial form, using a completely randomized design arrangement, with four replications. None of the Persian clover seeds was able to germinate at -1.2 MPa and -2.4 MPa of D-mannitol, while the seeds of fodder pea genotypes were not germinated at -2.4 MPa of D-mannitol. The final germination percentages, shoot and root lengths, root and shoot fresh weights, shoot and root dry weights, relative water contents of shoot and root, tolerance indices of shoot and root in fodder pea and Persian clover genotypes, and their interactions were all affected by the different osmotic (drought) stress conditions. The germination ratios, shoot and root lengths, fresh and dry weights of new fodder pea genotypes 'Tore' and 'Ates', and Persian clover genotypes 'Y' and 'S' were found to be higher drought tolerance than other genotypes.