Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
EUPHYTICA, cilt.220, sa.12, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
Soil or water salinity is a major constraint on crop productivity and national or global food security. It is possible that this constraint may increase in severity as a result of climate change. To overcome this constraint, it is essential to develop cultivars that are capable of withstanding this environmental stress factor. This study sought to identify suitable germplasm sources for the production of alfalfa cultivar/s for use in salinity-affected regions. For this reason, the effects of NaCl salt stress on 87 alfalfa populations and 6 alfalfa cultivars during germination and seedling development stages were investigated. The trial was irrigated with high salinity water (17.52 dS m-1) according to the completely randomized design and the Stress Tolerance Index (STI) was determined for the traits studied. In addition, a hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out to group samples according to their level of sensitivity or tolerance. This analysis was based on STIs derived from the traits germination rate and seedling dry weight, both of which have high broad sense heritability. According to the results of the analysis, the materials were divided into five main groups: highly tolerant, tolerant, medium, low tolerant, and sensitive to salt. It has been determined that certain materials possess high salt tolerance, including Defne, Alsancak, L-1758, L-1872, and L-1873 in the first group, and Bilensoy-80, & Ouml;zp & imath;nar, L-1756, and L-2209 in the second group. These materials are crucial genetic resources in developing tolerant varieties. It is anticipated that these materials will be utilized with ease in future breeding studies.