Zobaeda Ali Hussien (1),Bassam Fahad Al Atalah* (2) and Nedal Jamil Sofan (1)
(1) Faculty of Agricultural Engineering in Bath, Bath University,Syria.
(2). Researcher,Sweida Research Center/ General commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Bassam Fahad Al Atalah. Email:bassamatalah@hotmail.com )
Received: 18/03/2020 Accepted:13/05/2020
Abstract
This study was conducted at Sweida Research Center/ General commission for Scientific Agricultural Research/ Syria during the summer season of 2019. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of seven pepper genotypes (local variety 10496, local variety 10743, pure line 129, pure line 110, Aleppo pepper, thick sweet pepper and deer horn pepper) cultivated in polyethylene bags towards salinity (control, 30 mM and 80 mM). This evaluation was based on a group of physiological and quantitative indicators and in addition to some tolerance indices. Split plot was used as a statistical design and the data were analyzed by using two-way ANOVA analysis. Results for the physiological and quantitative indicators showed a different behavior of the genotypes studied in the control as well as the salinity treatments 30 and 80 mM. As for the physiological indicators, deer horn pepper achieved the highest increase ratio (3.64%) in 30 mM treatment compared to the control and the lowest reduction ratio in 80 mM treatment (6.43%) for the relative water content indicator. Whereas the thick sweet pepper registered the highest reduction ratio compared to the control in 30 mM treatment (35.36%), and the lowest increase ratio in 80 mM treatment (0.5%) for electrolyte leakage indicator. The local variety 10496 registered the highest increase ratio compared to the control in both salinity treatments for chlorophyll a and b, whereas Aleppo pepper registered the highest increase ratio in 30 mM treatment compared to the control (14.71%) as well as the deer horn pepper registered the highest increase ratio in 80 mM treatment (11.83%) for carotenoids indicator. As for the quantitative indicators, pure line 129 achieved the lowest reduction ratio compared to the control in 30 mM treatment (7.57%) as well as pure line in80 mM treatment (30.66%) for plant height indicator. In addition, the lowest reduction ratio was recorded for the local variety 10496 in 30 mM treatment (17.94%) and for the local variety 10743 in 80 mM treatment (52.05%) for dry weight indicator. The local variety 10743 also continued to record the lowest reduction ratios in both salinity treatments (30 and 80 mM) for leaf number indicator (23.45, 52.83% respectively). As for the fruit number indicator, the lowest reduction ratios were registered for deer horn pepper in 30 mM treatment (6.39%) and for Aleppo pepper in 80 mM treatment (54.05%) while deer horn pepper achieved the lowest reduction values for productivity indicator in both salinity treatments. For stress tolerance indices, the results showed the ability of yield stability index and stress susceptibility index to distinguish the most salinity stress tolerant genotypes (deer horn pepper) from the most sensitive genotypes (the local variety 10743). This study suggested introducing deer horn pepper in breeding programs and working to raise its productivity due to its ability to tolerate salinity stress.
Keywords: Pepper, Salinity Stress, Local varieties, Cluster analysis, Salinity tolerance indices.
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