POOJA RANI*, MANOJ KUMAR SHARMA, SONIA RANI, NEERAJ KUMAR1 AND S. K. SHARMA
Department of Soil Science, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e- mail : sutharpooja.93@gmail.com)
(Received : January 18, 2017; Accepted : March 20, 2017)
ABSTRACT
In a screen house study, tomato (var. Hisar Arun) seedlings were raised up to maturity in chloride and sulphate dominant saline soil, which has four salinity levels (2, 4, 6 and 8 dS/m) along with control. With the increasing salinity levels from 0 to 8 dS/m, there was a decrease in the plant height, chlorophyll content and photochemical efficiency of tomato plants. Sulphate salinized plants had better vegetative growth as compared to that of chloride salinized plants. No significant effect on flowering up to 4 dS/m in chloride and sulphate dominated salinities was observed. At 8 dS/m chloride dominated salinity, earliest flowering was reported on 14 days after transplanting which was normally on 28 DAT in non-saline soils. The plant height at 50% flowering decreased from 38.2 to 18.7 cm and 39.0 to 25.7 cm in chloride and sulphate dominated salinity, respectively, as the salinity levels increased from 2 to 8 dS/m. Similarly, at maturity it decreased from 42.6 to 21.0 cm and 44.7 to 28.0 cm in chloride and sulphate dominated salinity, respectively. The total chlorophyll concentration of tomato leaves was significantly reduced under salt stress irrespective of types of salinity. Chlorophyll ‘a’ was less sensitive or better protected against salt stress than chlorophyll ‘b’. Lowest value of quantum yield (Fv/Fm) i. e. 0.53 was reported under chloride dominated salinity which again indicating that there was more stressful environment under chloride dominated salinity than sulphate dominated salinity.
Key words :Chloride, chlorophyll, photochemical efficiency, salinity, sulphate, tomato