Assessment of some mango seedling varieties for salt tolerance.
El-Defan T. A. A., El-Ghanam M. M. M., El-Kishky S. A.
Author Affiliation: Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt.
Annals of Agricultural Science, Moshtohor 37 : 2813-2822
Abstract : Salt tolerance was evaluated in seedlings of mango cultivars (Sudani and Sensation) irrigated with water with NaCl concentrations of 0 (control), 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 or 3500 ppm until the occurrence of symptoms of salinity toxicity symptoms of salinity. The reduction in dry weight of leaves and leaf area, and burned leaf area were considered as parameters for evaluation. The dry matter weights of the leaves and stems of both cultivars significantly decreased with increasing salinity of the irrigation water. The reduction in leaf dry weight was more pronounced in Sudani than in Sensation. The total leaf area decreased, whereas the burned leaf area increased with the increase in the level of salinity of irrigation water. The net effect of increasing NaCl concentration in the irrigation water was more pronounced in Sudani than in Sensation, suggesting that Sensation was more salt tolerant than Sudani. The increase in the salinity level increased the leaf N, Na and Cl contents of leaves, but reduced the P and K contents. Significant differences between the 2 cultivars were observed with respect to N, P and Cl concentrations in leaves. The uptake of N, P and K (mg/seedling) by the leaves of Sudani and Sensation was reduced with the increasing NaCl concentration in the irrigation water, whereas Na and Cl uptake by leaves increased with the increasing salinity of the irrigation water.