Effect of osmotic potential on germination and seedling characteristics of soybean seeds

Seed germination is one of the life sensitive stages of the crops that will be affected by drought stress. In order to determine the effects of drought stress on germination of soybean (Glycine max L.) seeds, an experiment was conducted at the Crops Physiology Lab at the Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University in 2011. The experiment was carried out in a Factorial based on Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. The factors included different cultivars of soybean (L17, M9, Clark, M7, Hobbit and Williams) and osmotic water potential (0, -3, -6, -9 and -12 bar), that were created by different amounts of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG6000). The results showed that the effects of drought stress and different cultivars of soybean were significant for all traits of germination, but the interaction effect of them was significant for root and shoot length, germination rate and percentage of germination. At potentials less than -3 bars did not the germination. Germination percentage of Clark was higher than other cultivars. All characteristics of germination (except for length of plumule) of Hobbit cultivar was lowest than other cultivars.