Sodicity tolerance of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) seedlings
2012
Rajpar, I. (Sindh Agriculture Univ., Tandojam (Pakistan). Dept. of Soil Science) | Kumbhar, M.A. (Sindh Agriculture Univ., Tandojam (Pakistan). Dept. of Soil Science) | Umrani, J.H. (Sindh Agriculture Univ., Tandojam (Pakistan). Dept. of Soil Science) | Zia-ul-Hassan | Maitlo, A.A.
Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is recently introduced as a bio-fuel crop-plant in Pakistan. It can withstand and survive on a wide variety of soils. However, detailed information regarding its growth in sodic soils is lacking. We evaluated sodicity tolerance of 60-days old saplings of jatropha. The seedlings were initially raised in a nursery and then transferred into the earthen pots. The pots were filled with artificially prepared sodic soils with four exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) levels: 5.0 (control), 25, 35 and 45. The sodicity treatments were administered by spraying a 1:1 solution of Na2CO3 and NaHCO3 on normal soil. The seedlings were allowed to grow for four months after transplantation. The results obtained from the study showed remarkable reductions in various growth parameters of jatropha seedlings due to sodicity stress, viz. at high sodicity (ESP 45) the reductions were: 75%, 69%, 67%, 92% and 78%, in plant height respectively number of leaves, root length, stem grith and seedling dry biomass. Increasing sodicity enhanced leaf Na+ concentration, while the reverse was true for the leaf concentration of K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ and K+/Na+ ratio. It is concluded that sodicity adversely affects the growth and biomass production of jatropha seedlings; mainly by decreasing the ratios of K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ to Na+.
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