Evaluation of salt tolerance in local varieties and foreign collection samples of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

In this research, 20 samples, including local chickpea varieties and foreign accessions, were subjected to control treatment (distilled water) and varying concentrations of Na₂SO₄ (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) under thermostat conditions to assess their salinity tolerance. The results showed that plant growth, particularly the seedling development during germination, is highly sensitive to salt stress. According to the analysis, several local varieties—Guliston, Lazzat, and Iftikhor—as well as foreign accessions—SSA-2, SSA-10, SSA-11, SSA-12, SSA-16, SSA-18, SSA-19, SSA-34, SSA-35, and SSA-36—were identified as salt-tolerant. In Na₂SO₄ solutions with concentrations of 1% and 1.5%, significant reductions in germination rate, stem length, and root length were observed compared to the control and 0.5% salt concentration. In the above-mentioned salt-tolerant samples, the seedling vigour index decreased by 24.85% under low salinity (0.5% Na₂SO₄), by 73.13% under moderate salinity (1% Na₂SO₄), and by 89.82% under high salinity (1.5% Na₂SO₄). These reductions indicate that increasing salt concentrations substantially slow down the growth and development of chickpea plants, even in relatively tolerant genotypes.