Choosing seeds is crucial for obtaining good quality seedlings, especially when the seedlings are grown under adverse environmental conditions. This work was carried out to evaluate the influence of salinity on the development of moringa seedlings from seeds located at different positions in the pod. The design used in this study was a completely randomized design with treatments arranged in 3 x 4 factorial scheme, with four replications. The treatments resulted from a combination of three positions in the seed fruit (basal, median and apical) with four salinity levels of irrigation water (0.5, 2.0, 3.5 and 5.0 dS m-1). The growth characteristics evaluated were the following: height (ALT), stem diameter (AD), diameter of the root principal (DRP), number of leaves (NL), leaf area (LA), shoot dry mass (SDM), root dry mass (RDM) and total dry mass (MST). The data were submitted to analysis of variance by F test and means were compared by the Tukey test at 5% of probability for the effect of seed position in the fruits, and to regression analysis for data from the salinity. Interaction was significant for most traits. The salinity of irrigation water caused a reduction in all variables. Seedlings from seeds located in the basal portion of the fruits are more affected by salinity of irrigation water.
Irrigation; Moringa oleifera Lam; Saline estresse
