EFFECT OF SALINE IRRIGATION ON GERMINATION AND GROWTH-PARAMETERS OF BARLEY (HORDEUM-VULGARE L.) IN A POT EXPERIMENT

The effect of saline irrigation was investigated on germination and gr owth parameters of six barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars in a pot experiment. The crop germination decreased between 24-35% with irrigat ion water having EC of 9.26 dS m(-1), 28-47% with water:EC of 13.4 dS m(-1) and 30-53% with water EC of 16.28 dS m(-1) among various cultiva rs. The sequence of reduction in germination was Hassawi > Gusto > Mad ini > M. Khariji > Qassimi. Plant height and total number of plant til lers decreased significantly with increasing irrigation-water salinity . Plant height ranged between 39.43 cm (Qassimi cultivar) with water E C:of 3.00 dS m(-1) to 1.97 cm (Gusto) with water EC of 16.28 dS m(-1) whereas the range for total number of plant tillers per pot was 77.00 (Qassimi) with irrigation EC of 3.00 dS m(-1) to 9.67 (Gusto) with irr igation EC of 16.28 dS m(-1). The trend of reduction in plant height f or different cultivars was Gusto > Qassimi > Hassawi > Madini > M. Kha riji whereas for plant tillers, the sequence was Gusto < Hassawi < M. Khariji < Qassimi < Madini. Greenmatter and drymatter yield decreased significantly with increasing irrigation water salinity. The greenmatt er yield ranged between 138.67 g per pot (Madini) with water EC of 3.0 0 dS m(-1) to 11.40 g per pot (Gusto) with water EC of 16.28 dS m(-1). A similar trend was found for drymatter yield. The trend of reduction in yield among various cultivars (both greenmatter and drymatter) was Gusto > Hassawi > M. Khariji > Qassimi > Madini. Overall sequence of salt tolerance for different barley cultivars was Madini > Qassimi > M . Khariji > Hassawi > Gusto. A comparison of cultivars indicated that irrigation waters with EC 13.40 dS m(-1) and above reduced crop germin ation and greenmatter production to a significant level. In conclusion , there exists a lot of potential for a reasonable production of barle y as forage crop with irrigation water having salinity up to 9.26 dS m (-1) provided 15% extra water above crop-water requirement is applied as leaching requirements to control soil salinity. (C) 1997 Elsevier S cience B.V.