Effects of peg stress on corn cultivars (Zea mays L.) at germination stage.

Abstract

Germination of each seed is considered as one of the first and most fundamental life stages of a plant so that, the success in growth and yield production is also depending on this stage. In order to study the effects of drought stress on germination indices in wheat cultivars, an experiment was conducted as factorial form, using a completely randomized design arrangement, with four replications. In this experiment, four corn cultivars were evaluated at five levels of drought treatment (distilled water (0), -2, -4 and -8 bars). Results indicated significant differences among the cultivars and drought stress levels. The principal aim of current study was to compare the four varieties of maize under the stress conditions. Results indicated that significant decrease was observed in percentage of germination, germination rate, length of radicle and plumule and radicle and plumule dry matter. Based on the results, the golden west cultivar was the most resistant one in stress conditions that possessed the highest levels of all traits in this study.