Impact of Salt Stress on Different Varieties of Palmarosa During Seed Germination

Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii (Roxb.) Wats.) is an essential oil bearing perennial crop having geraniol and geranyl acetate in its oil, widely used in cosmetic and perfumery industries. An experiment was conducted to determine germination percentage and seedling vigor index in PRC-1, Trishna and Tripta varieties of Palmarosa at KCl salt concentrations of 0 mM, 50 mM, 100 mM and 150 mM in Petri-dishes coupled with 16 hrs light and 8 hrs dark photoperiod placed at 25°C temperature. The highest percentage of germination and seedling vigor index I and II was observed in control followed by 50 mM, 100 mM and 150 mM. Germination percentage, seedling vigor index I and II decreased as KCl concentration increased. Highest KCl salt tolerance potential was showed by variety Trishna followed by PRC-1 and Tripta. Varieties PRC-1 and Tripta have salt tolerance potential up to 50 mM while Trishna have up to 150 mM KCl concentration. The result of our study suggests that farmers can raise Palmarosa nursery in normal soil condition and transplant it in soil salinity upto 50 mM KCl concentration. Hence, we suggest that in the nursery more than 50 mM salinity soils should be avoided except variety Trishna which can be grown up to 100 mM KCl concentration at 25°C.