SCREENING OF LOCAL - EXOTIC ACCESSIONS OF LENTIL (LENS-CULINARIS MEDIC) FOR SALT TOLERANCE AT 2 GROWTH-STAGES

Screening of available local/exotic germplasm of a crop for salinity tolerance is of considerable value for the economic utilization of salt-affected soils of arid and semi-arid regions. The response of 133 lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) accessions, to NaCl at the germination and seedling stage, was examined. A great amount of variation of NaCl tolerance in lentil was observed at both the growth stages but, in general, there was no consistent relationship between tolerance assessed at germination or at the seedling stage. In the NaCl treatment five accessions, ILL 5845, ILL 6451, ILL 6788, ILL 6793, and ILL 6796 produced significantly greater fresh and dry plant biomass in both absolute and relative terms than the others, but these accessions performed as well as other intermediate or low biomass producing accessions in total germination percentage and rate of germination. In view of the existence of the great amount of variability of tolerance to NaCl among lentil varieties improvement in NaCl tolerance in this species is possible.