Cation Nutrition of Barley as Influenced by Soil Solution Composition in a Saline Soil

Abstract

Identification of nutritional disorders in crops growing on saline soils may facilitate the development of breeding or agronomic practices that improve yields in saline areas. An investigation was conducted under controlled environment conditions to identify possible cation deficiencies in barley (Hordeum vulgare 'Gait') grown under sulfate-dominated salinity stress. Soil was artificially salinized to produce a factorial of five salinity levels (ranging from approximately 6.5 to 17.5 dS m−1) and five salt types containing various ratios of Na:Mg:Ca. A control treatment (3.1 dS m−1) was also included. Barley was grown for 75 d and harvested for analysis of dry matter yield and tissue composition. Yield response of barley to salinity stress was not differentially affected by the type of salt used in salinization. Concentrations of sodium and magnesium in the plant tissue were generally increased by salinity stress, but these accumulations did not restrict yield since no consistent relationship was found between the concentrations of these cations and barley yield. Potassium concentration in the plants was inversely related to level of soil salinity, apparently because of an antagonistic effect of sodium, but was not consistently related to barley dry matter yield. Calcium uptake was also suppressed by soil salinity. In contrast to the results observed for other cations, a very strong relationship indicative of a yield response curve was observed between yield and calcium concentration in the plant tissue, particularly when the latter was expressed as a ratio of total cation concentration (R2 = 0.94). Furthermore, calcium concentration in the plant tissue and estimated calcium activity in the soil solution in highly salinized treatments were well below those considered adequate. These results suggest that calcium deficiency may have played an important role in restricting yield under salinity stress. The apparent calcium deficiency induced by salinity stress was attributed to reduced activity of calcium in the soil solution because of precipitation with sulfate and high ionic strength. Key words: Calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, salinity

Effect of supplemental Ca2+ on NaCl-stressed castor plants (Ricinus communis L.)

“…As a result, Na + induced Ca 2+ deficiency in tissues. It is reported that uptake of Ca 2+ from the soil solution may decrease because of ion interaction, precipitation and increase in ionic strength that reduce the activity of Ca 2+ (JANZEN and CHANG 1987). It is found that salinity can alter Ca 2+ uptake and transport leading to Ca 2+ deficiency in plants (CRAMER et al 1987).…”

Physiological responses of plants to salinity: A review

“…The authors concluded that Na + exclusion is not a reliable indicator of salt tolerance in maize. Magnesium and sodium sulfate salts in soil solution were found to reduce barley yield when cation activity ratios (a Ca /a total cations ) were < 0.09 (Janzen and Chang 1987). Wild barley (Hordeum jubatum) was found to be more tolerant to saline (MgSO 4 and Na 2 SO 4 , 10-80 mol m -3 ) solution culture and was less responsive to Ca 2+ -amendment (Suhayda 1992;Huang et al 1995).…”

Physiological Responses of Tomato Plants and Soil Microbial Activity in Salt Affected Greenhouse Soil

“…Mineral absorption by plants is mainly correlated positively with the application rates of fertilizers at the optimal range. Numerous studies revealed that high salinity has suppressed the uptake of mineral elements such as the reduction in the accumulation of N (Al-Rawahy et al, 1992;Feigin et al, 1991;Khan et al, 1990), P (Sharpley et al, 1992), K (Janzen and Chang, 1987;Sharma, 1996), Ca (Janzen and Chang, 1987;Puntamkar et al, 1988;Rengasamy, 1987) and Mg (Hansen and Munns, 1988;Awada et al, 1995), owing to the competitiveness between ions. Contrary to these previous studies, positive increases in terms of soil ionic compositions with soil EC levels (Table 1) might be suggested that element-excessive soils had little or no effect on limiting the absorption of individual element.…”