Response of phenological stages and chlorophyll index of wheat cultivars at different salinity levels and their relation to yield

This research was conducted to study the role of phenology in wheat cultivars’ reaction to salinity stress. The experiment was carried out as factorial، based on a randomized complete block design with three replications، in Bu-Ali Sina University، Hamadan، Iran. Treatments included four wheat cultivars (Alvand، Toos، Navid and Sayson) and five levels of water salinity (0، 4، 8، 12 and 16 dS/m). Results showed that except for emergence stage، the salinity stress had reductive effect on other phenological stages of wheat cultivars. Chlorophyll index، plant height، spike dry weight، percentage of fertile stem، spike length and grain and biological yield of wheat were reduced by salinity stress. Wheat cultivars showed significant differences in each one of the studied traits. Maximum salinity effect on phenology and other studied traits was obtained in Sayson cultivar. By increasing the salinity level، Navid and Toos cultivars showed fewer changes in most of the measured traits، as compared to two other cultivars. Overall، Toos cultivar was the most compatible cultivar to salinity stress because of the need for less cumulative growing degree day for completion of phenological stages and more stability of yield.