Performance valuation of onion (Allium cepa L.) genotypes under different levels of salinity for the development of cultivars suitable for saline regions

Md Ashraful Alam; Md Atikur Rahman; Md Marufur Rahman; Md Mahmudul Hasan; Shamsun Naher; Abu Hena Faisal Fahim; Md Abdul Mottalib; Srabanti Roy; Md Rafiqul Islam; Shailendra Nath Mozumder; Amnah Mohammed Alsuhaibani; Ahmed Gaber; Akbar Hossain

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1154051

Performance valuation of onion (Allium cepa L.) genotypes under different levels of salinity for the development of cultivars suitable for saline regions

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Mar 31:14:1154051. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1154051. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Plant Breeding Division, Spices Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bogura, Bangladesh.
² Division of Soil Science, Spices Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bogura, Bangladesh.
³ Regional Station, Bangladesh Institute of Research and Training on Applied Nutrition, Rangpur, Bangladesh.
⁴ Division of Horticulture, Spices Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bogura, Bangladesh.
⁵ Division of Agronomy, Spices Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bogura, Bangladesh.
⁶ Division of Agricultural Engineering, Spices Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bogura, Bangladesh.
⁷ Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
⁸ Division of Agronomy, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Ishwardi, Pabna, Bangladesh.
⁹ Department of Physical Sport Science, College of Education, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Division of Soil Science, Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute, Dinajpur, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Abiotic stress, especially salt stress, is one of the major barriers to crop production worldwide. Crops like onion that belong to the glycophytic group are more sensitive to salinity stress. A huge study regarding the influence of salinity stress on the growth and development of crops has already been done and is still ongoing. One of the major targets of the research is to develop genotypes that have enhanced performance under stress environments. The world needs more of these types of genotypes to combat the ever-growing salt-stressed soils. Therefore, a number of germplasm were studied during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons under different salt concentrations to identify tolerant genotypes as well as to study the plants' responses at different growth stages against elevated salinity levels. A 2-year study was conducted where germination potential was evaluated in the first year and carried out in petri dish culture of seeds, followed by plastic pot culture for plant establishment and bulb development evaluation during the second year. Four different saline water solutions having different salt concentrations (0, 8, 10, and 12 dS m^-1) were applied to the petri dishes and pots as the source of water for plants in both seasons. Results indicated that a significant reduction in plants' performance occurs under higher salinity levels. Salt concentration had an adverse impact on germination, leaf development and growth, the height of plants, bulb size and shape, and the bulb weight of onion. All the growth phases of onion are sensitive to elevated concentrations. Variable performances were observed in the genotypes under stress conditions, and a few genotypes (Ac Bog 409, Ac Bog 414, Ac Bog 424, Ac Bog 430, Ac Bog 417, Ac Bog 419, Ac Bog 420, Ac Bog 422, and Ac Bog 425) having some sort of tolerance to salt stress were identified, which might be recommended for mass production. Tolerance indices could successfully be applied in selecting the salt-tolerant genotypes. Thus, the present findings and the identified genotypes could be further utilized in salt stress improvement research on onion.

Keywords: STI; bulb growth; germination; onion; salinity; stress.

Grants and funding

This research was partially funded by the “Strengthening spices crops research in Bangladesh” project and Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2023R65), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.