Emergency, initial growth and biomass of peanut genotypes irrigated with brackish waters

Abstract

Salt stress affects seed germination and consequently the initial growth of seedlings. The aim of this study was to evaluate the emergence and biomass accumulation of peanut genotypes under salt stress. The experiment was conducted at the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusofonia (UNILAB), Redenção, Ceará, Brazil. The study was carried out in a completely randomized design with four replicates of 25 seeds, in a 6 × 2 factorial scheme: six peanut genotypes (BR-1, Accessions AC08, AC26, AC28, AC43, and AC69) were irrigated with two types of water in terms of electrical conductivity (ECw of 1.0 and 5.0 dS m^-1). The variables evaluated were emergence percentage, emergence speed index, average emergence time, average emergence speed, number of leaves, seedling height, root length, shoot dry matter, root dry matter and total dry matter. Irrigation water with EC of 5.0 dS m^-1 negatively affected the emergence percentage, emergence speed index, number of leaves, seedling height, and total dry matter of the peanut genotypes. Genotype BR-1 and Access AC43 showed greater tolerance to salt stress based on root dry mass. The greatest seedling growth and biomass accumulation were recorded for the BR-1 genotype and Accessions 08, 26, 28, and 43 in relation to Accession 69.