Evaluation of quinoa genotypes for their salinity tolerance at germination and seedling stages

Abstract

Freshwater scarcity and salinity stress are major constraints for irrigated agriculture in the arid West Texas region. Alternative crops that are tolerant to salinity and less water-intensive are needed for long-term agricultural sustainability in this region.Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a halophytic crop with its seed having high market value and that can be a potential substitute for traditional crops. However, its salinity tolerance is a variable trait among genotypes and was shown to differ with growth stages. This study evaluated 25 quinoa genotypes that are suitable for growing in this arid region for their salinity tolerance at germination stage and classified them based on their stress tolerance index (STI). A completely randomized factorial design was used with water salinity and quinoa genotypes as two factors. Quinoa seeds were subjected to salinity stress at 1, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 dS m −1 , their germination determined for two weeks, and seedling growth was evaluated through biomass production. Results showed that germination decreased significantly (by 60%) across all genotypes as salinity increased, with zero germination at 30 dS m −1 . All genotypes differed significantly across salinity levels, with percent germination ranging between 37-72%. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, 23GR, 130R, 124R, and 31P were identified as highly salt-tolerant genotypes at seed germination. Seedling biomass also decreased with increasing salinity, but genotypical differences were not as pronounced as at the germination stage. We conclude that salinity tolerance at germination and seedling growth stages is indeed a variable trait among selected quinoa genotypes.

Response of saline irrigated quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Wild) grown on coarse texture soils to organic manure

“…Quinoa plants are belonging to the halophyte plants that can tolerate the high levels of salinity (Panuccio et al, 2014;StoleruVasile et al, 2019). Our results are in agreement with those obtained by Panuccio et al (2014) and Chaganti et al (2022). Increasing the concentrations of NaCl (100-400 Mm) in saline water did not have significant effects on the germination of some quinoa cultivars (Panuccio et al, 2014;Chaganti et al, 2022).…”

“…Our results are in agreement with those obtained by Panuccio et al (2014) and Chaganti et al (2022). Increasing the concentrations of NaCl (100-400 Mm) in saline water did not have significant effects on the germination of some quinoa cultivars (Panuccio et al, 2014;Chaganti et al, 2022). The use of saline water up to 400 Mm resulted in a germination rate of 80% (Panuccio et al, 2014).…”

“…The salinity threshold of irrigation water that significantly reduced growth and yield of quinoa lies somewhere between 8 to 16 dSm-1 (Dua-e-Zainab et al, 2021). However, there are other studies confirmed that quinoa plant can tolerate water salinity up to 25 dSm-1 in the germination stage and up to 20 dSm -1 at vegetative growth stage (Chaganti et al, 2022). Under field conditions in Iran the seed yield of quinoa ranged between 2 and 3 t ha − 1 when the plants were irrigated with saline water ranged between 14 to 20 dS m -1 , while in another experiment in Urinated Arab Emirates the seed yield was 7-10 t ha − 1 with the use of saline water had 16-18 dS m -1 (Nanduri et al, 2019).…”

“…Increasing the salt concentrations in the plant growth media inhibited the germination due to high (Shahzad et al, 2021). Increased osmotic pressure and toxic ions weaken the ability of the seeds to absorb water, and thus the germination process fails, and the seedlings may be exposed to drought (Causin et al, 2020;Chaganti et al, 2022).…”

Chemical Changes in Some Nutritional and Anti-Nutritional Compounds in Quinoa Grains Under Saline Conditions at Ras Sudr, South Sinai

“…Due to its high nutritional content and ability to improve food security by resisting environmental restrictions like drought (Hirich et al, 2012 andRazzaghi et al, 2014), and salinity (Hirich et al, 2014 andBouras et al, 2022), quinoa, a facultative halophyte, has recently attracted increasing interest worldwide. The halophytic crop quinoa has a high market value for its seed and has the potential to replace conventional crops (Chaganti and Ganjegunte, 2022). Among the various methods lately employed to tackle the salinity issues agricultural fields, pre-sowing seed treatment is a simple, low-cost, and risk method for dealing with salinity stress (Ramadan et al, 2019).…”