Growth, Development and Yield of Crambe Abyssinica Under Saline Irrigation in the Greenhouse

Abstract

Salinity is one of the major factors limiting agricultural productivity in arid and semi‐arid regions. Saline areas around the world are increasing and sources of fresh water are decreasing. The increasing importance of the use of brackish water to supplement regular irrigation has demonstrated a need for finding new potential plants with tolerance to irrigation with saline water which can be used in industrial agriculture. The aim of this study was to determine whether irrigation with brackish water of Crambe Abyssinica, a plant commonly used for industrial oil production and for ornamental purposes and with high economical value, especially in Central Asia and the Aral Sea region, is feasible. One more goal was to study how it influences growth and development, seed and oil yield and some physiological parameters such as photosynthesis, transpiration, chlorophyll content, osmotic potential and accumulation of fresh and dry weight. The effects of three salinity levels, 3, 6 and 9 dS m−1, were investigated in a greenhouse experiment during two consecutive years. Results of this study showed that growth of Crambe abyssinica in arid zones and irrigation with mild saline water up to EC 6 dS m−1, mostly common in these areas is feasible, suggesting tolerance to moderate salinity levels and feasibility of its culture in areas of the Aral Sea with adequate salinity levels. Consequently, in spite of the fact that biomass and seed yield were significantly decreased in plants irrigated with brackish water, Crambe abyssinica might be cultivated as an alternate source of green biomass and for industrial vegetable oil under conditions not suitable for conventional plant production.

Salinity Effects on Development and Productivity of Crambe (<i>Crambe abyssinica</i>) under Greenhouse Conditions

“…Regarding to soil salinity, it was necessary to transform the data in 1 x to EC; 1 x to Na; x to Mg and log (x) for Ca and Cl ( Table 3). (1: (1) Na (1) K Ca (2) Mg (3) P Al (4) O.M. (2) Salinity levels (N) 4 0.013 ns 0.…”

“…Crambe (Crambe abyssinica) is an oil plant of the cruciferous family native of the Mediterranean region from Ethiopia to Tanzania for ornamental purposes and with high economical value, especially in Central Asia and the Aral Sea region; however, it is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions [4]. The literature is not abundant about the effects of salinity in crambe production, although it is believed that crambe has great potential to figure as raw material for biofuel, among the 40 oil species already known with this potential [5].…”

Germination and initial growth of crambe (Crambe abyssinica Hochst.) under saline conditions

“…This result disagrees with that of Francois and Kleiman (1990), who found no effect of salinity on vegetative growth up to 8 dS m -1 . Ionov et al (2013) -planting Crambe Abyssinica seeds originated from the Aral Sea area in Uzbekistan -observed that water with up 3 dS -1 EC might be used in irrigation of crambe with no loss in seed yield. However, when water with 6 and 9 dS -1 EC was used, seed yield was significantly reduced in both years of the experiment, suggesting tolerance to moderate salinity levels (Ionov et al, 2013).…”

“…Furthermore, effects of specific ions may involve direct toxicity or a variety of nutritional effects (Bernstein and Hayward, 1958). Salinity is one of the major factors limiting agricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid regions (Ionov et al, 2013). Irrigation has resulted in the accumulation of salts to above-normal concentrations in the rooting zone of arable land, as high rates of evaporation and transpiration draw soluble salts from deep layers of the soil profile (Rozema and Flowers, 2008).…”

“…The Fundação MS in Maracajú, on the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, released the first Brazilian cultivar of crambe in 2007, named FMS Brilhante (Pitol et al, 2010), but its salt tolerance is not yet known. Both Fowler (1991) on the basis of germination of the Meyer cultivar, Francois and Kleiman (1990) based on yield of five cultivars and three germplasm releases, and Ionov et al (2013) based on a 2-year greenhouse experiment with irrigation using saline water, classified crambe as moderately tolerant to salinity. In this study we aimed to determine the effects of different salinity levels on germination and initial growth of crambe, cultivar FMS Brilhante.…”