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Effects of salinity on eggplant ( Solanum melongena L.) growth and evapotranspiration
Author(s) -
Ünlükara Ali,
Kurunç Ahmet,
Kesmez Gülüzar Duygu,
Yurtseven Engin,
Suarez Donald L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.453
Subject(s) - salinity , irrigation , soil salinity , solanum , evapotranspiration , melongena , greenhouse , agronomy , saline water , environmental science , dry matter , soil water , yield (engineering) , horticulture , biology , soil science , ecology , materials science , metallurgy
The effects of irrigation water salinity on eggplant growth, yield, water consumption and mineral matter accumulation in leaves and fruits were investigated with a greenhouse experiment. For this purpose, five saline irrigation waters with electrical conductivities of 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 5.0, 7.0 dS m −1 and tap water as a control treatment were utilized. Throughout the experiment, the amounts of irrigation water to be applied were determined based on the weight changes of each pot. After irrigation the amount of drainage water volume was measured in drain pans placed underneath each pot. We calculated the plant water consumption from the water budget information. Threshold soil salinity and slope values of the yield response to soil salinity level were determined as <1.5 dS m −1 and 4.4 respectively for fruit yield and 6.7 dS m −1 and 3.7 for the vegetative dry weight. The fruit yield results revealed that eggplant was moderately sensitive to salinity. Plant water consumption and water use efficiency decreased with increasing salinity. The crop yield coefficient ( K y ) was 2.3. Salinity caused a decrease in K content, and increased Cl content of leaves. Although mineral concentration of the leaves did respond to increased mineral concentration of irrigation water, mineral concentration of fruits did not. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.