Sodium accumulation trend in the different quality seed, cultivars, and yield potential of peanut under salinity stress

Abstract

Seed quality is a crucial component of crop productivity. Therefore, it is essential to ascertain the seed harvested source for succeeding sowing to sustain productivity. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production in salinity-prone areas has abruptly decreased, which needs to be addressed on priority. Hence, we investigated the performance of contrasting seed types (seed harvested from normal and salinity grown conditions) and cultivar (TG 37A and GG 2) under different water salinity levels. Application of different salinity irrigation water levels (0.5 (control), 2, 4, and 6 dS m−1) reduced plant growth and yield attributes and increased the accumulation of sodium in both normal grown seed (NGS) and salinity grown seed (SGS) types of peanut kernel and cultivar (TG 37A and GG 2) with a successive increase in levels of salinity established since one and half-decade. This reduction was more prominent in SGS than NGS conditions for both the cultivars. However, the tested parameters were higher in cultivar GG 2 than TG 37A except 100-pod and 100-kernel mass, which were appreciably higher in cultivar TG 37A. Therefore, the reuse of SGS reduced the pod yield of peanuts (22–46%) under different water salinity levels than the NGS. Hence, the seed harvested from saline conditions should be avoided as a seed to ensure better peanut production.