The effect of salinity stress on the morphophysiological characteristics of some pomegranate genotypes

Pomegranate is one of the most important horticultural products that cultivated in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world. Meanwhile, in some pomegranate orchards, salinity stress is one of the abiotic stresses that harm agricultural crops such as pomegranate production by reducing productivity. This research aims to compare growth characteristics between selected genotypes including 1- Chah Afzal 2- Vahshi Babolsar, 3- Narak Lasjerd Semnan 4- Poost Siahe Yazd, 5- Malase Yazdi, 6- Rababe Neyriz, under salinity stress, in a randomized complete block design with three replicaions at Chah Afzal research station of Ardakan city. During the whole experiment, the trees were irrigated with saline water with salinity of 9 ± 0.5 dS/m every 12 days. Based on the results of this research and considering the lowest amount of ion leakage, the highest content of relative humidity and potassium, the high amount of total chlorophyll, carotenoid and leaf surface ratio, the lowest sodium to potassium ratio and necrosis percentage Chah Afzal genotype showed very good resistance to salinity conditions, followed by Poost Siahe Yazd, Vahshi Babolsar, Narak Lasjerd, Malase Yazdi and finally Rababe Neyriz were highly sensitive to salinity. According to the results of cluster analysis, the highest similarity between genotypes based on the parameters mentioned above was between the Narak Lasjerd and Malase Yazdi. The highest difference between Chah Afzal genotype and other genotypes was registered. This shows a significant difference in the superiority of Chah Afzal genotype over other genotypes in total traits. Therefore, due to the compatibility and proper growth of these genotypes in saline conditions, it is suggested that they could be used as a rootstock and the cvs. Malase Yazdi and Rababe Neyriz, which also produced flowers and fruits in saline conditions, can be grafted on them.