Experiments with the selection of mango rootstocks for the southern Arava.
Kadman A., Gazit S., Ziv G.
Author Affiliation: Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel.
Israel Journal of Botany 27 :34
Abstract : A major obstacle to mango growing in the Arava region is the high salt content of the irrigation water. The salinity tolerance of many seedlings, including polyembryonic types, was investigated. The seedlings were planted in sandy soil containing 10-15% CaCO3 and drip-irrigated with water containing over 600 p.p.m. Cl. Most plants rapidly developed severe leaf scorch and symptoms of Fe deficiency but in some (particularly the polyembryonic line 13/1) the damage was nil or very slight. Following the establishment of a reserve plantation for tolerant rootstocks, over 100 dunams of mango trees on 13/1 rootstocks were planted.