Response Growth and Yield of Three Broad Bean Cultivars (Vicia faba L.) to Spraying with Different Concentrations of Salicylic Acid Under Saline Soil Conditions

South of Babylon province, at 32 degrees 40 minutes north latitude and 44 degrees 39 minutes east longitude, was the site of a field experiment run by the College of Agriculture at Al-Qasim Green University during the winter of 2022-2023. Three broad bean varieties were tested for their reactions to salicylic acid sprays of varying doses in saline soil. The experiment was conducted with a split plot arrangement according to The Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. The experiment included two factors: The first important factor was the cultivation of three cultivars of broad beans (Turkish, Spanish, and Dutch) which were placed in the main plot. As for, the sub-plot was included three concentrations of salicylic acid: control treatment, the spraying treatment with 100 mg L-1, and the spraying treatment with 200 mg L-1. The results showed that the Turkish cultivar was significantly excelled in the studied trait of plant height (118.46 cm), the number of branches (branch-1), and the biological yield (4.81 tons. ha-1), while the Spanish cultivar was excelled in leaf area (2505.8 cm2) and the number of pods (21.74 pods. plant -1), seed yield (2.49 ton. ha-1), and harvest index (56.15%). Where spraying with salicylic acid was significantly excelled on 200 mg L-1 in the studied traits for plant height (97.08 cm), the number of branches (10.87 branch.plant-1), the leaf area (2363.7 cm2), the number of pods (23.01 pods plant-1), seed yield (2.40 ton.ha-1), and the harvest index (49.23%).


Introduction
One of the most extensively grown winter leguminous crops, broad bean Vicia faba L is cultivated for its green pods or fresh and dry seeds due to its high protein content (up to 35% of dry weight).That's why it's such a staple in many cultures' dietary plans, especially those with limited income [1].The modern techniques that are used to reduce environmental stress are the use of growth regulators, especially salicylic acid, Salicylate is one of the non-enzymatic antioxidants, which has an important role in improving the plant's defense system during exposure to stress and increasing the activity of some important antioxidant enzymes [ 2 ] .In addition, its important role in regulating the response of plants to environmental stress conditions as this acid provides protection against all of environmental stresses such as salt, thermal, moisture stress and stress resulting from heavy metals [ 3 ] .[ 4 ] , concluded that there are significant differences in growth characteristics between the studied broad bean 1259 (2023) 012100 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1259/1/012100 2 cultivars(French, Cypriot, Spanish and Turkish).The French cultivar excelled in giving the highest average plant height (67.93 cm) and the number of branches per plant (6.32) branch plant-1) and the leaf area of the plant (3403 cm 2 ) and the dry weight of the plant (64.95 g plant -1 ) compared to other cultivars in which the Turkish cultivar recorded the lowest average for these traits was 54.26 cm, 5.94 branch plant-1, 3019 cm 2 plant-1 and 51.88 g plant -1 , respectively.In another study conducted by [ 5 ] significant differences were found between the cultivars, where the Barekat genotype recorded the highest average of biological yield, seed yield, and harvest index (1208.23)gm.m 2 , 535.76 gm.m 2 , and 44.42%, respectively, compared to the lowest average recorded.The local genotype for the above traits was (1006.61gm.m 2 , 293.57gm.m2 and 29.38%), respectively., [ 6 ] noted in their study of two concentrations of salicylic acid (0 and 1) mmol on the broad bean crop that plants sprayed with a concentration of 1 mmol had a significantly excelled in the number of branches and leaf area, as it gave the highest average of (13.7 branch plant-1 and 17. 6 dm 2 plant -1 Compared with the control treatment, which gave the lowest mean for these traits (2.3 branches .Plant -1 and 7.1 dm 2 .Plant -1 ), respectively, [ 7 ] showed that spraying the leaves of broad bean plants with two concentrations of salicylic acid (15 and 30 mg L -1 ,It led to the presence of significant differences between the studied traits, where the plants treated with salicylic acid at a concentration of 15 mg L -1 gave the highest mean in the number of pods per plant, the weight of 100 seeds, and the seed yield per unit area amounted to (18.33 pods plant-1, 141.3 g, and 132.22 gm plant -1 .The importance of this study came with the aim of knowing the study of the trait of the three cultivars under saline soil conditions and studying the effect of salicylic acid in reducing the damage caused by salt stress on plants.

Materials and Methods
During the agricultural season of 2022-2023, researchers from Al-Qasim Green University's College of Agriculture and Department of Field Crops conducted a field experiment.The experiment followed a split-experiment, randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates to examine the growth and yield of three broad bean cultivars in response to spraying with varied doses of salicylic acid under saline soil conditions.Experimenting space was 3m x 2m in size.There were four rows in each trial, with a 70 cm separation between them and a 20 cm separation between plants.Three cultivars of broad beans (Turkish, Spanish, and Dutch) were grown in the main plots, each subjected to one of three salicylic acid treatments: the control (SA0), a spray with 100 mg L -1 (SA1), and a spray with 200 mg L -1 (SA2).The process of spraying the treatments was conducted according to the stages of growth (at the beginning of flowering and the second spray after 15 days, the date of the first spray) in the early morning for each of the mentioned stages using a dorsal sprinkler (capacity 16 liters) with the use of a diffuser (Cleaning fluid) to reduce the surface tension of the water (until wet).Soil and crop service operations were conducted such as grafting and thinning as needed, and after the plants reached full maturity, including blackening of the leaves and their falling off and blackening of the pods, the harvesting process was conducted successively according to the ripening dates of the studied cultivars.,The data were analyzed statistically for all the studied traits using the analysis of variance method according to the Genstat program, and the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test was used, at a probability level of 0.05 for comparison between the arithmetic means [ 8 ] .After the plant reached the stage of physiological maturity, the measurements required to be studied were taken:

Growth Traits
 Plant height (cm)  Number of branches in the plant (branch.plant -1 )  Leaf area (cm 2 )

Traits Yield
Measurements and indicators of the yield and its components were taken until signs of maturity appeared and the pods reached the stage of physiological maturity as a dry yield for each experimental unit as follows  Number of pods (pod.plant -1 )  Seed yield (ton ha -1 )  Biological yield (tons ha -1 )  Harvest index

Plant Height (cm)
Table 1 shows that there is a statistically significant relationship between salicylic acid concentrations and plant height traits; plants fed a high concentration of salicylate (200 mg SA L -1 ) grew to an average height of 97.08 centimeters, while those fed a low concentration of salicylate (89.61 centimeters) were in the control group.Because salicylate is one of the compounds that increase cell divisions and works to encourage and induce auxins to stimulate cells to divide, it may be responsible for the observed positive correlation between salicylate and increases in the averages of vegetative growth traits, such as plant height.Depending on how far you go [9].Table 1 displays the results of a statistical analysis of the effect of cultivars on the trait of plant height.The Turkish cultivar performed best, with an average height of 118.46 centimeters, while the Spanish cultivar performed worst, with a height of only 72.99 centimeters.It's possible that their divergent responses to environmental conditions resulted from their shared genetic makeup, which in turn led to their dissimilar plant heights.Several experts in the field have concluded that the bean cultivars they examined showed substantial variation in terms of plant height [10,11].

Branches Number Per Plant
Salicylic acid concentrations above (200 mg SA L -1 ) were associated with a significantly higher number of outgrowths, as shown in table (2).The hormones auxin, gibberellin, and cytokinin all play important roles in plant growth, and it's possible that salicylic acid's physiological role in elevating these hormones is to blame [ 12 ] , they contribute to the plant's expansion as a whole, including its limbs, in a beneficial way.Multiple studies have shown that salicylic acid has a dramatic effect on branching in legume crops [ 13 ] .Different cultivars performed very differently, as shown by the data in the same table.The Turkish cultivar performed the best, with an average of 10.64 branches per plant -1 , while the Spanish cultivar performed the worst, with an average of 8.25 branches per plant -1 .This is because cultivars vary in their sensitivity to environmental factors, the amount of endogenous hormones, especially cytokinins, present, and the efficiency with which they convert light energy into chemical energy during photosynthesis. [

Leaf Area (cm 2 )
Table 3 shows that plants exposed to 200 mg L -1 of salicylic acid had a larger average leaf area (in square centimeters) than the control plants (SA0), which had a mean of 1736.8 square centimeters.The increased leaf area may be a direct result of the salicylate's direct action in promoting cell proliferation and expansion, which could explain why a concentration of 200 mg SA L -1 is optimal for these features.
[ 16 ] .This result was consistent with the results of other researches that found a significant effect of adding salicylic acid in the leaf area and for different field crops [11,16].Compared to the Turkish variety, which offered the lowest average of trait at 1641.1 cm 2 , the Spanish cultivar greatly outperformed with the largest average leaf area, at 2505.8 cm 2. Because of how genes and the environment interact, the performance gap across cultivars could be attributable to differences in genotype [14].
Table 3.Effect of salicylic acid on leaf area (cm 2 ) of braod bean cultivars.

Number of Pods Per Plant -1
Table (4) shows that as salicylate concentration is increased, the average number of pods produced by a plant rises, with the highest yield occurring in plants exposed to a salicylate concentration of 200 mg L-1, followed by the lowest yield occurring in plants exposed to a salicylate concentration of SA0 (14.33 pods per plant).This could be because salicylic acid plays a role in preventing flower drop and abortion and in promoting internal pollination of flowers [17], and also its role in inhibiting ethylene, abscisic acid, and the enzyme pectin methyl esterase that leads to encouraging drop of pods in the pod connection area [ 18 ] .According to Table (4), the Spanish cultivar produced the most pods overall, with an average of 21.74 pods per plant, much outstripping the Dutch cultivar, which produced the fewest pods overall, at an average of 16.35 pods per plant.The Spanish cultivar excelled because of its moral superiority in the value of the harvest index (Table 7), which indicates the cultivar's high efficiency in transporting products of photosynthesis and nutrients from the plant's vegetative parts to its reproductive parts, particularly its flowers, where they can increase the percentage of nodes and, in turn, the number of pods.In this regard, [9] suggested that plants can store products of photosynthesis in the form of blooms and seeds.Several studies have shown that the quantity of pods produced by bean plants varies significantly between varieties [10,14].

Seed Yield (ton ha -1 )
Table (5) shows that the seed yield per unit area significantly increases with increasing salicylic acid spraying concentration, with the highest mean for the trait amounting to 2.40 ton.ha -1 achieved at a concentration of 200 mg L -1 , compared to the control treatment's lowest yield of 1.56(ton.ha -1 ).The increased seed yield per unit area can be directly attributed to the trait's high salicylate concentration, which in turn is attributable to the trait's greatly improved yield components (number of pods, Table 4).Table 5 shows that the Spanish cultivar had the highest average seed yield, at 2.49 tons ha -1 , and that the Dutch cultivar had the lowest average seed yield, at 1.47 tons ha -1 .The increased seed output per unit area must correspond to the significant superiority of the Spanish cultivar in both pod number and harvest index value (4 and 7).
Table 5.Effect of salicylic acid on seed yield (ton. ha -1 ) of braod bean cultivars.6) shows that the biological yield increases dramatically as the salicylic acid spraying concentration rises, with the 200 mg L -1 concentration producing the highest average for the trait, amounting to 4.88 tons ha -1 , in contrast to the control plants, which produced the lowest average, amounting to 3.52 tons ha -1 .Table results also revealed that the Turkish cultivar greatly outperformed the rest of the cultivars, yielding 4.81 tons ha -1 compared to the Dutch cultivar's 3.23 tons ha -1 .This is because the qualities of vegetative growth and yield, and consequently the biological yield, are highly influenced by the cultivar's genetic make-up and the environment in which it is grown.Table 6.Effect of salicylic acid on biological yield (ton. ha -1 ) of broad bean cultivars.7) that the plants sprayed with a concentration of 200 mg L -1 of salicylic acid achieved the highest average harvest index value of 49.23% and were significantly superior to the comparison plants that gave the lowest value for this trait 44.88%.The reason for the concentration of 200 mg L - 1 excelled is due to the fact that it was distinguished in the seed yield (Table 7), and this reflected positively on increasing the value of the harvest.Spanish cultivar achieved the highest harvest index value of 56.20%, compared with the Turkish cultivar which gave the lowest value of 40.17%.This increase was due to the excelled on the Spanish cultivar in seed yield per unit area (Table 7).

Conclusions
The Spanish cultivar achieved a high yield of broad bean due to its adaptation to the Iraqi environment, and spraying salicylic acid at a concentration of 200 mg L -1 reduced the damage of local stress and achieved an increase in the growth and yield so we recommended conducting more studies in this field.

Table 1 .
Effect of salicylic acid on plant height (cm) of broad bean cultivars.

Table 2 .
Effect of salicylic acid on branches number per plant of broad bean cultivars.

Table 4 .
Effect of salicylic acid on number of pods per plant of broad bean cultivar.

Table 7 .
Effect of salicylic acid on harvest index (%) of broad bean cultivars.