Salt tolerance in durum wheat cultivars

Abstract

This work presents the response of 17 durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) genotypes to a salinity gradientestablished with 7 saline treatments using a drip-injection irrigation system. According to the results, grain yieldwas the most sensitive parameter. Vitron was the most tolerant cultivar (ECe50 = 16.6 dS m-1) and Bolenga the mostsensitive (ECe50 = 7.5 dS m-1). The average value of ECe50 was 11.3 dS m-1, markedly lower than that usually mentionedin the literature. The spike length, the number of spikelets and of grains per spike, and the harvest index were themost tolerant characters. Salinity significantly increased the concentration of chloride and sodium in the leaves, althoughpotassium content did not vary with increasing salinity. No consistent relationship was found between ECe50and the leaf Cl, Na and K concentrations, which could not, therefore, be used in screening for salinity tolerance. Vitronwas the most interesting cultivar due to the tolerance of its yield, thousand kernel weight, grain size and plantheight.