Field hydroponics assessment of salt tolerance in Cenchrus ciliaris (L.): growth, yield, and maternal effect

RUIZ, M; TALEISNIK, E

CROP & PASTURE SCIENCE

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Lugar: Collingwood; Año: 2013 vol. 64 p. 631 - 639

1836-5795

Soil salinity and sodicity have long been major constraints tofor increasing crop production in many parts of the world. The introduction of salt-tolerant perennial species is one of the most promising alternatives to overcome salinity problems. Cenchrus ciliaris is a highly drought tolerant species but there are few available reports on its salt tolerance. The purpose of this work was to assess this trait in two widely used cultivars (Biloela and Texas) and to determine whether cultivation under salinity affected seed germination and resulting plant fitness in the next generation. Trials were performed under field hydroponics conditions. Plants were grown for 5 months in 1000 L PVC boxes, containing washed river sand, and were automatically irrigated with a commercial nutrient solution to which NaCl was gradually added to provide to provide average season EC levels of 9, 15 and 19 dS/m. Controls were 4 dS/m. Vegetative growth in both cultivars was similarly affected by salinity and grain yield diminished because of a decreased number of spikelets per plant. Significant growth and yield reductions were registered at approximately EC 10 dS/m, and growth continued to decrease with a very smallmild slope as salinity increased, indicating that this species has moderate salt tolerance. Salinity decreased seed germination percentages, however it was higher in seeds obtained from plants that had been grown under saline conditions for only one season. Growth was similar in plants obtained from seeds originated from non-salinized and salinized plants. These results suggest that stand persistence of C. ciliaris in saline soils would not be limited by diminishing plant performance but, rather by grain yield and seed germination.