Screening of low and high soil water content tolerant of seven Indonesian local tobacco cultivars

Abstract Global climate change is one of the causes of obstacles to tobacco cultivation in Indonesia. Therefore, information on the tolerance of tobacco cultivars in Indonesia to soil water content is needed. This study aims to obtain information on the diversity of responses of local Indonesian tobacco cultivars to different soil water contents and to obtain other important information for developing assessment methods for tobacco plant tolerance to soil water content. This research was conducted by screening seven cultivars, namely: Kemloko 2, Kemloko 3, Kemloko 6, DB 101, Prancak 95, Tolang Hitam, and Gober Sembung. Soil water content treatment was conducted using an irrigation volume consisting of four levels: 15% below field capacity, field capacity, 15% above field capacity, and 30% above field capacity, resulting in 24 treatments. Plants were subjected to water saturation treatment every two days between 35 and 90 days after planting. Soil water content was measured with a gypsum meter. The study was conducted using a full randomized block design with three replications. The response of each treatment to water saturation was observed, namely: the level of plant freshness, plant height, number of leaves, leaf thickness, leaf length, width, and nicotine levels in the leaves as a response of each cultivar to the given soil water saturation. Based on this research, there are differences in the level of plant freshness (wilting index) between cultivars in each soil water content treatment. The level of plant freshness can be an effective selection indicator in assessing plant tolerance to water stress. Based on the vigor and wilting index of tobacco plants, several cultivars were have been identified as candidates for cultivars tolerant to high soil water content, namely: DB 101, Kemloko 2, Kemloko 6, Tolang Hitam, and Prancak 95. Meanwhile, the following candidate cultivars were tolerant to low soil water content or drought: DB 101, Kemloko 2, and Prancak 95.