Effects of Irrigation Water Quality on Seed Germination and Early Seedling Growth of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Irrigation water of poor quality, particularly saline water, is a growing constraint on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production, and the germination and early seedling stages are among the most sensitive to salt stress. This study will quantify how irrigation-water quality affects seed germination and early seedling growth of wheat under controlled laboratory conditions. A completely randomised design will compare four treatments: distilled water (control), freshwater, moderately saline water (target electrical conductivity, EC, 6 dS/m), and highly saline water (target EC 12 dS/m), each with six replicates of 50 seeds in Petri dishes incubated at 20 °C. Germination percentage and mean germination time will be calculated from daily counts over eight days, and root length, shoot length, fresh biomass, and dry biomass will be measured on ten seedlings per replicate. Data will be analysed with one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test when assumptions are met, with Welch’s ANOVA and Games–Howell comparisons or Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn’s tests as alternatives, and with eta- and omega-squared effect sizes. A planning calculation indicated 80% power to detect a standardised effect of about f = 0.75 with six replicates per treatment. The study is intended to provide a reproducible, transparent evaluation of water-quality thresholds for wheat establishment and to inform irrigation management where saline water is used.