1Division of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar - 190 025, (India)
2Division of Environmental Sciences, Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar - 190 025, (India)
*e-mail: asmamajid173@gmail.com
Online published on 24 May, 2021.
Drought has an adverse impact on plant developmental process and is accountable for considerable crop yield loses worldwide. For improving yield under drought stress, the ability to select tolerant genetic material is a prerequisite in all important plant breeding activities. Lentil is an economically important pulse crop which often suffers from inadequate soil moisture. In this study, seed germination potential and seedling growth has been analysed in fifteen lentil genotypes exposed to drought as a means to explore the possibility of identifying drought-tolerant lines at an early developmental stage. Stress was induced by varying concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000: 0%, 5%, 10% and 20%). Genotype performance was assessed on a daily basis and referred to length of radical, number of laterals and root biomass. The current finding revealed that all parameters across the genotypes showed progressive decline with increase in the concentration of PEG 6000 from 0 to 20%. The variation among lentil genotypes for these traits has been found to be a reliable indicator to screen the drought tolerant genotypes at primary growth stage.
Abiotic stress tolerance, Drought, Lentil, PEG 6000
