Sugarcane Plant Growth and Physiological Responses to Soil Salinity during Tillering and Stalk Elongation

Abstract

A pot study was conducted to investigate influences of salinity on sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) plant growth, leaf photosynthesis, and other physiological traits during tillering and stalk elongation. Treatments included two commercial sugarcane cultivars (Canal Point (CP) 96-1252 and CP 00-1101) and an Erianthus with five different soil salt concentrations (0 [Control], 38, 75, 150, and 300 mM of NaCl added). Growth (tillers, plant height, and nodes) and physiological (leaf net photosynthetic rate [Pn], stomatal conductance [gs], intercellular CO2 concentration, and leaf water soluble sugar concentrations) characters were determined during the experiment. Responses of sugarcane growth, photosynthesis, and photoassimilate translocation to salinity depended on soil salt concentration. Plant height was the most sensitive while the number of nodes was the most tolerant to soil salinity among the three growth traits measured. CP 96-1252 differed from CP 00-1101 significantly in response of shoot:root ratio to high salt concentration. Leaf Pn of plants treated with the 38 mM salt did not differ from that of the control plant, but plants treated with the 75, 150, and 300 mM salt had 12.7, 18.7, and 35.3% lower leaf Pn, respectively, than the control. The low leaf Pn due to salinity was associated with not only the decrease in gs, but also the non-stomatal factors. Results of leaf sugar composition and concentrations revealed that high salt concentration also depressed photoassimilate translocation from leaves to other plant tissues. These findings are important for better understanding of some physiological mechanisms of salinity influence on sugarcane growth and yields.

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“…Additionally, the decrease in stomatal conductance and subsequent stomatal closure leads to a decrease in active photosynthesis and stem height. According to our ndings, (Zhao et al, 2020) also reported a decrease in active photosynthesis in sugarcane due to salinity stress, attributed to a decrease in stomatal conductance and photosynthetic factors in the leaves. Additionally, Vasantha et al…”

Assessment of the Genetic Diversity of New Sugarcane Hybrids Using Principal Component and Cluster Analyses

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Agrotechnological characteristics of sugarcane cultivars irrigated with salinized water

“…The results can be explained by the fact that, by increasing the salt concentration in the soil, a reduction in the osmotic potential occurs; therefore, the plant is unable to absorb water due to the reduction in the water potential of the soil (Zahra et al, 2020). Zhao et al (2020), when evaluating sugarcane growth under salinity of irrigation water during tillering and elongation, found reductions in plant height of 13.5, 11.1, 18.3, and 31%, respectively, for saline levels of 38, 75, 150, and 300 mM. In addition, Lira et al (2018) evaluated the growth of sugarcane irrigated with brackish water and leaching fractions and found that salinity negatively affected plant stature.…”