Preliminary evaluation of new sugar beet germplasm for salinity tolerance

To develop cultivars tolerant to salinity stress, diverse genetic resources are required. This study was performed to evaluate the salinity tolerance of new imported sugar beet genotypes in a factorial design based on completely randomized design with three replications including 15 multi-germ genotypes and two controls as the first factor and two salinity levels (0 and 16 dsm-1) as the second factor at the greenhouse of the Agricultural Research, Education & Extension Organization of Isfahan. Different traits including germination percentage, plant establishment percentage, and salinity tolerance index were recorded. Based on the results, all 15 genotypes were significantly different from the tolerant control 7233-P.29 and among the studied genotypes, genotypes 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 14 were identified as tolerant genotypes. Results showed that the most obvious difference between the new genotypes and the tolerant control under stress condition was in final plant establishment percentage so that the average germination percentage of new genotypes compared with tolerant control increased by about 6%. The average plant establishment percentage which is an important trait in salinity tolerance, increased by 53.25% in new genotypes compared with the control.