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The global shortage of fresh water in arid/semi‐arid regions has inevitably led to the use of unconventional sources of water. One of the strategies for managing saline water consumption is by using simulator models that can help in understanding the physiological response of crops. In this study the number of germinated seeds, shoot fresh weight and plant leaf area index as three of the main parameters of the vegetative stage of maize plants were investigated. In order to quantify the effect of different salinities on vegetative growth parameters, the macroscopic models of Homaee et al., Dirksen et al., van Genuchten and Hoffman and Maas and Hoffman were tested. The fitting of different models to measured data of germinated seeds showed that the Maas and Hoffman model was superior over the other three models with r and NSE values of 0.87 and 0.79, respectively. Similarly, the model of Homaee et al. with the values of r = 0.98 and NSE = 0.89 was the best model for the maize fresh weight variable. Finally, for the leaf area index variable, the van Genuchten and Hoffman model having values of r = 0.95 and NSE = 0.91 was able to provide a better estimate than the other models.

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