Vigor of sunflower seeds irrigated with saline water in the initial phase of growth

Abstract

The shortage of good quality water in brazilian semiarid regions forces grower to use brackish water in irrigation. The ability of seed to emergence is one of the main criteria to evaluate the tolerance of plants to saline stress. In this region, the sunflower cultivation stands out because it is a renewable source of energy. In order to evaluate the germination and vigor of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds under saline stress, an experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with different water salinity levels (CEw) 0.5 (control), 1.6, 2.7, 3.8 and 4.9 dS m^-1. The increase in ECw interfered with the vigor of sunflower seedlings, reducing the index of velocity of emergence, height and biomass of shoots of seedlings, but did not affect, the diameter and number of leaves until 10 days aftersowing (DAS). Evaluations at 20 and 26 DAS, indicated that only the number of leaves was significantly affected by salinity.