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

Abstract

Crop productivity decreases globally as a result of salinization. However, salinity impact on greenhouse-grown crops is much higher than on field-grown crops due to the overall concentrations of nutrients in greenhouse soils. Therefore, this study was performed to determine the short-term changes in growth, photosynthesis, and ) at 28 days. In our experiment, soluble sugars and starch were sensitive markers for salt stress and thus might assume the status of crops against various salt conditions. Taken together, tomato plants found to have tolerance against moderate soil EC stress. Various EC levels (<3.0 ~ 10.0 dS m -1 ) led to a slight decrease in organic matter (OM) contents in soils at 28 days. Salinity stress led to higher microbial activity in soils, followed by a decomposition of OM in soils as indicated by the changes in soil chemical properties.