Drought tolerance of Vicia sp. at germination stage

Abstract

Drought is considered the most important abiotic stress which limits growth and productivity of plants and degrades agricultural soils. Therefore, testing drought tolerance of different species, particularly in the early stages of development, is of great importance. The aim of the experiment was to examine the tolerance of vetch to water stress during the germination stage. Three species of vetch, Vicia sativa L., Vicia villosa Roth and Vicia pannonica Crantz, produced at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad, were tested. The substrates for germination were moistened with the PEG solution of 0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 MPa concentrations. As indicators of drought tolerance, germination and growth parameters (shoot and root length, fresh and dry weight of seedlings) were determined. With an increasing concentration of PEG, all the tested parameters were reduced, but the results showed the interaction between the species and drought level.