Determination of Salinity Tolerance of Some Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Varieties

This research was carried out in experimental glasshouse of the Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University in 2006. The aim of the research was to investigate salinity tolerance of some chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) varieties. Five chickpea cultivars were used in the experiment. Control (0 mM) and 60 mM NaCl treatments were applied to 2 kg soil for each pot. For basal fertilization 100 mg kg(-1) N (NH4NO3), 50 mg kg(-1) and 63 mg kg(-1) K (KH2PO4) were applied to each pot. According to obtained results, plant heigth, root lenght, fresh and dry weight of plant and root were higher in control than salinity treatment. Na content of plant part above soil and root were higher in salinity treatment. K content of plant was higher in control and K content of root in salinity treatment. In terms of Cl content was higher in both of plant and root in salinity treatment. Plant height was 29.66-37.92 cm, root length was 12.18-16.68 cm; fresh weigth of plant part above soil was 26.50-33.00 g, dry weigth was 5.47-6.43 g; fresh weigth of root was 1.61-2.24g, dry weight was 0.79-1.41 g and dry weigth plant part and root ratio was 4.81-7.39 in the control treatment. In salinity treatment, plant height was 23.89-34.08 cm; root length was 11.45-15.59 cm; fresh weigth of plant part above soil was 23.00-33.00 g; dry weigth was 3.83-5.52 g; fresh weigth of root was 1.61-2.24g; dry weight was 0.84-2.01 g and dry weigth plant part and root ratio was 4.43-8.42. At the end of the research, Canitez 87, Izmir 92 and Sari 98 varieties were more tolerant to salinity than others. And Menemen 97 showed most sensitive cultivar among the cultivars.