Emergence, photosynthesis, and seedling growth of bean genotypes, as affected by salt sources and salinity levels

ABSTRACT The type and amount of salt present in water determine the suitability of water for irrigation. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different salt sources (SS) and different salinity levels (SLs) in irrigation water on photosynthetic capacity, emergence and seedling growth parameters of eight bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes (G). The experiment was designed as a three-factorial split–split plot under a rain-out shelter. The G × SS × SL interaction for all investigated parameters was statistically significant. In general, GV-51, VN-50 and ML-34 genotypes were not adversely affected by increasing SL with respect to CaCl2, MgCl2 and CaSO4 salts. However, compared to the control, VN-8 and TR-64995 genotypes showed the lowest percent emergence from 2 and 3 dS m−1 with all salt sources, except VN-8 with CaSO4 salt. None of the genotypes showed significant differences for mean emergence time with increasing SL of CaSO4 salt. The highest shoot length was obtained for Helda genotype under control SL. Considering all genotypes, the values ranged from 0.533 to 0.740 for Fv/Fm ratio, 3.36 to 3.38 g for biomass weight, 1.82 to 4.75 g for shoot weight, and 1.42 to 4.50 g for root weight. Genotypic differences existed for salinity tolerance for emergence and early seedling growth, and the effects of salinity depended not only on the amount of salt but also on the kind of salt present in the irrigation water.