Effects of salt stress on yield, yield components and carbohydrates content in four hullless barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars

Abstract

In order to evaluate the effects of salinity on some traits of barley, Four hullless barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars (Namely, UH3, UHM7, EHM81-12 and CM67) were grown in research station of Islamic Azad University of Eghlid in Iran, under salt stress in two years (2006 and 2007), Four salinity treatments (1, 5, 10 and 15 dS m-1) were used. The experimental design was a split plot which salt treatments were arranged as main plots and cultivars as subplots, based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The measured parameters were yield and its components, monopoly and disaccharides content in flag leaves. Results showed that grain yield, biological yield, harvest index, grain per ear, grain weight and plant height were reduced significantly by salt stress. In all treatments of salinity, CM67 cultivar produced the highest and UH3 cultivair produced the lowest grain and biological yield, In all cultivars, salinity stress decreased starch content but increased sucrose content, In high level of salinity, CM67 cultivar had the highest sucrose content (100.20 nig g-1) in comparison with other cultivars. Thus, this cultivar had the highest tolerance to salt stress than the others and is suitable for cultivation in salinity conditions. © 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information.