Submit Manuscript

Journal of Agronomy

Year: 2004 | Volume: 3 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 25-30
Research Article

Effect of Potassium and Nitrogen Fertilizers on the Growth and Biomass of Some Halophytes Grown under High Levels of Salinity

Maher N. Noaman
Department of Aridland Agriculture, College of Food Systems, UAE University, Al-Ain-1 7555, UAE
A field experiment was carried out at Nahshala Farm, about 50 km from Al-Ain, UAE during the 2001/2002 growing seasons, using five halophyte species; Spartina sp., Distichlis palmeri., Paspalum vaginatum, Juncus roemerianus and Batis maritima, under six levels of N and K fertilizer combinations irrigated with salinity water of 20 g L-1. The objectives of the experiment were twofold; 1) to find out the optimum rate of potassium and nitrogen under such high salinity stress and 2) to study the response (growth and biomass production) of such halophytes to different levels of K and N as an anti-salinity nutrients. The experiment was conducted in triplicate with a split-plot design arranged in randomized complete block. Results indicate that controlling soil fertility especially N and K under saline soils condition is considered one of the most important factors in order to conduct reliable study on the evaluation of tolerance of plants to salinity stress. Nitrogen and potassium proved to increase plant salt tolerance to produce high biomass. This study also supports the idea of using high saline water of about 20 g L-1 salt concentration in agriculture along with N and K fertilizers accompanied with increasing leaching fraction to maintain satisfactory yield production of such halophytes.
PDF Fulltext XML

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Article Trend

Total views 3512

References

  1. Mcneal, B.L. and N.T. Coleman, 1966. Effects of solution composition on soil hydraulic conductivity. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 30: 308-312.
  2. El-Sheikh, A.M., A. Ulrich and. T.G. Broyer, 1967. Sodium and rubidium as possible nutrients for sugar beet plants. Plant Physiol., 42: 1202-1208.
  3. Lehr, J.J., 1953. Sodium as a plant nutrient. J. Sci. Food Agric., 141: 460-471.
  4. Fisher, R.A., 1968. Stomatal opening: Role of potassium uptake by guard cells. Science, 160: 784-785.
  5. Maas, V. and R.H. Nieman, 1978. Physiology of Land Tolerance to Salinity. In: Crop Tolerance to Suboptimal Land Conditions, Yung, G.A. (Ed.). ASA, CSSA, Madison, WI., pp: 277-299.
  6. Kent, L.M. and A. Lauchli, 1985. Germination and seedling growth of cotton: Salinity-calcium interactions. Plant Cell Environ., 8: 155-159.
    CrossRefDirect Link
  7. Leigh, R.A. and R.G.W. Jones, 1984. A hypothesis relating critical potassium concentrations for growth to the distribution and functions of this ion in the plant cell. New Phytot, 97: 1-14.
  8. Watad, A.A., L. Reinhold and H.R. Lerner, 1983. Comparison between a stable NaCl selected Nicotiana cell line and the wild type: K, Na and proline pools as a function of salinity. Plant Physiol., 73: 624-629.
    Direct Link
  9. Singh, N.T., D.R. Bhumbla and J.S. Kanwar, 1969. Effect of gypsum alone and in combination with plant nutrient on crop yields and amelioration of saline-sodic soils. Indian J. Agric. Sci., 139: 1--9.
  10. Nitana, H.C., K.S. Dargan and I.P. Abrol, 1972. Annual Report. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, India.
  11. Takkar, P.N. and T. Singh, 1978. Zinc nutrition of rice as influenced by rates of gypsum and zinc fertilization of alkali soils. Agron. J., 70: 447-450.
  12. Chhabra, R., I.P. Abrol and M. Singh, 1980. Dynamics of phosphorus during reclamation of sodic soils. Soil Sci., 132: 319-324.
    Direct Link
  13. Pearson, G.A. and L. Bernstein, 1958. Influence of exchangeable sodium on yield and chemical composition of plants. II. Wheat, barley, oats, rice, tall fescue and tall wheat grass. Soil Sci., 86: 254-261.
  14. Mustafa, A.H., A.I. Shabassy, A.T. Gohar, E.M. Abdel Naim, A.A. Rahman and M.E. Elshad, 1966. Growth and cationic accumulation by wheat and barley as influenced by various levels of exchangeable sodium. Agric. Res. Rev., 44: 1-17.
  15. Mehrotra, C.L. and S.K. Das, 1973. Influence of exchangeable sodium on the chemical composition of important crops at different stages of growth. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 21: 355-366.
  16. Joshi, Y.C., A. Qadar and R.S. Rana, 1979. Differential sodium and potassium accumulation related to sodicity tolerance in wheat. Indian J. Plant Physiol., 22: 226-230.
    Direct Link
  17. Dvorak, J., M.M. Noaman, S. Goyal and J. Gorham, 1994. Enhancement of the salt tolerance of Triticum turgidum L. by the Kna1 locus transferred from the Triticum aestivum L. chromosome 4D by homoeologous recombination. Theor. Applied Genet., 87: 872-877.
    CrossRefDirect Link
  18. Hylton, L.O., A. Ulrich and D.R. Cornlivs, 1967. Potassium and sodium inter-relations in growth and mineral content of Italian rye grass. Agron. J., 59: 311-314.
  19. Helal, M., K. Koch and K. Mengel, 1975. Effect of salinity and potassium on the uptake of nitrogen and on nitrogen metabolism in young barley plants. Agron. J., 351: 310-313.
    CrossRefDirect Link
  20. Noaman, M.N., M. Khodir, A.A. El-Sayed and W. Kadry, 1997. Field screening of barley genotypes under different levels of soil salinity and potassium. Emirates J. Agric. Sci., 9: 23-33.
  21. Steel, R.G.D. and J.H. Torrie, 1984. Principles and Procedures of Statistics. 2nd Edn., McGraw Hill Book Co. Inc., New York, pp: 172-177.
  22. Noaman, M.N. and E. El-Haddad, 2000. Effects of irrigation water salinity and leaching fraction on the growth of six Halophyte species. J. Agric. Sci., 135: 279-285.
    CrossRefDirect Link

Keywords