Performance of some under‐explored crops under saline irrigation in a semiarid climate in Northwest India

Abstract

Growing salt-tolerant under-explored crops utilizing saline ground water can provide for an economic use of abandoned semiarid lands. Field trials were conducted between 1999 and 2003 on a calcareous soil in a semiarid region of northwest India. Woody perennials were planted at the sill of furrows and irrigated with water of high salinity (EC 10-28 dS m À1 ), low salinity (EC 5-9 dS m À1 ) and alternately with these two waters. Woody species included Azadirachta indica, Cordia rothii, Salvadora persica, Jatropha curcas, J. gossipifolia, Ricinus communis, Catharanthus roseus, Adhatoda vasica and Aloe barbadensis. Most of these could be grown successfully but S. persica-a highly salt-tolerant halophyte-though it produced huge biomass, could not yield mature fruit due to frost injury. The salinity build up in the soil was greater during low-rainfall years, but a good rainfall year, e.g. 714 mm in 2001, helped to leach out the accumulated salts. The uptake of Na þ in plants was greater when irrigated with water of high salinity, while K þ accumulation was greater with water of low salinity. Na þ accumulation was higher in roots as compared to other parts except in Jatropha and Salvadora, while K þ accumulation was greater in leaves. There was a negative correlation between Na þ and K þ accumulation and a positive correlation between Ca 2þ and Mg 2þ . Thus, saline water (ECiw 12 dS m À1 ) can successfully be used for growing several under-explored crops of high economic value.

Evaluation of Growth Parameters for Jatropha curcas L. (Biofuel Plant) under Salinity and Water Stress Using Tensiometer for Irrigation Guiding

“…Application of 5 mM SA was positively affected the growth characters at salinity level of 4.7dS m-1 compared with 0 or 10 mM. Similar results were obtained by Rady (1990), Rhoades et al (1992), Dagar et al (2006) and Kotoky et al (2015). At the same effort, Fujimaki and Kikuchi (2010) reported that Jatropha is not more tolerance either to drought or to salinity compared to other major crop such as soybean or wheat.…”

“…Reduced water uptake under saline conditions is shown by symptoms similar to those caused by drought (Katerji et al, 2000). Although, some investigators reported that Jatropha has high yield potential and can be grown well under stress conditions, enough quantitative data have not been presented (Openshaw, 2000, Dagar et al, 2006, Achten et al, 2008, Abou Kheira & Atta, 2009and Ye et al, 2009). However, it was noted a conflict of research results about the tolerance of Jatropha toward salinity.…”

“…However, it was noted a conflict of research results about the tolerance of Jatropha toward salinity. For example, Dagar et al (2006) evaluated the utilizing of saline water for an economic use of abandoned semiarid lands. They found that Jatropha was grown successfully with saline water of 12 dS m-1.…”

Recycled Urban Wastewater for Irrigation of Jatropha curcas L. in Abandoned Agricultural Arid Land

“…Other authors have also noted the preference of JCL for sandy soils, which are more favorable to root development than clay soils [10][11][12][13][14]. Other studies, however, have found no influence of soil texture on JCL growth variables [47].…”

“…For most crops, the relative salinity tolerance and yield response functions to salinity are known well enough for general salt tolerance guidelines [13], however JCL's salinity threshold has not been assessed yet. While Dagar et al [14] reported that JCL could successfully be irrigated with levels of salinity of up to 12 dS·m ) [15]. Previous studies on the cultivation of JCL in arid regions using RWW for irrigation are scarce and provide very limited information.…”