Evaluation of Pea (Pisum Sativum L.) Cultivars for Cadmium Tolerance Using Pollen Assay

Ten pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars were screened for their relative tolerance to cadmium using pollen assay. Pollen germination and tube growth declined significantly with the increasing level of Cd²⁺. However, lower dose of Cd²⁺ (0.025mM) stimulated germination in Arkel, Lincoln, VRP-4 and tube growth in HFP-4, PH-1, NDVP-9 cultivars. The order of Cd²⁺ tolerance of the tested cultivars was HFP-4> HFP-8712>PH-1> NDVP-9> Lincoln> HFP-8909> Rachna> Arkel> VRP-4> VRP-3. The cultivar VRP-3 was about three times and Rachna, Arkel and VRP-4 were nearly two times more susceptible to Cd²⁺ as compared to cv. HFP-4.