Effect of Salt on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Tomato

Tomato considered as an important cash crop in terms of vegetable production worldwide. An experiment was conducted at Plant Physiology Laboratory, Dept. of Crop Botany, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh in order to investigate the effects of different levels of NaCl concentrations on seed germination and seedling growth of five varieties of tomato. The experiment was carried out by completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Experimental treatments consisted of five varieties of tomato (BARI Tomato-2, BARI Tomato-8, BARI Tomato-14, BARI Tomato-17 and BARI Tomato-20) and three levels of NaCl (0, 30, 60 mM). Results on main effects of varieties on germination of seed revealed that there was significant difference among five varieties of tomato seeds at different days after sowing. At 10th day after sowing seeds, the highest percentage of seed germination (64.89%) was recorded in the variety BARI Tomato-8 and the lowest percentage of seed (35.11%) observed in the variety BARI Tomato-2. NaCl solutions significantly affected seed germination in tomato. At 10th day after sowing seeds, the highest percentage of seed germination (56.80%) of tomato was recorded in control. In case of combined effects of varieties and different levels of NaCl solutions on seed germination of tomato, the highest seed germination was recorded in the variety BARI Tomato-20 and BARI Tomato-8 with control at 10th day after seed sowing. The germination percentage, germination coefficient, root and shoot length, seed vigor index, fresh weight of shoot and root, dry weight of shoot and root decreased with the increase of NaCl salt solutions in the germination media compared to control. Results showed that among the five varieties of tomato, BARI Tomato-20, BARI Tomato-8 were relatively more salt tolerant than BARI Tomato-2 and BARI Tomato-14. To accelerate tomato production in saline prone areas of Bangladesh, it is necessary to identify salt tolerant tomato varieties.

Keywords: NaCl; Germination; Seedlings; Salt solution; Tomato varieties.