Effect of Salinity on Yield and Yield Related traits of some Accessions of Ethiopian Lentil (Lens culinaris M.) under Greenhouse Conditions

Abstract: To evaluate the effect of salinity on yield and yield related traits of Ethiopian lentil, greenhouse experiment, were conducted. Seeds of 12 Lentil accessions were grown at greenhouse (Pot) conditions with different levels of salinity (0, 2, 4, and 8 dSm-1 NaCl) for 12 weeks. The experimental design was randomized complete block design in factorial combination with three replications. Data analysis was carried out using SAS software. Plant height, number of branch, number of leaves seed yield and total biological yield were evaluated. The two way ANOVA for varieties revealed statistically significant variation among lentil accession, NaCl level and their interactions (p<0.001) with respect to the entire parameters.It was found that salt stress significantly decreases, Plant height, Number of branches per plant, Number of Leaves per plant, Number of pods per plant, Total biological yield per plant, and Seed yield per plant of lentil accessions. The degree of decrement varied with accessions and salinity levels. All accessions were sensitive to high salinity level and did not produce sufficient seed yield and total biological yield. Accessions Lent12, Lent1 and Lent2 were better salt tolerant than the other accessions up to 4 dS/m salinity level. As the result, it is recommended to be used as a genetic resource for the development of lentil accession and other very salt sensitive crop with improved germination and seed yield under saline condition