Tolerance of vegetable crops to salinity

Global constraints on fresh water supplies and the need to dispose of agric ultural, municipal, and industrial waste waters have intensified interest i n water reuse options. In many instances, the value of the water is decreas ed solely because of its higher salt concentration. Although quantitative i nformation on crop salt tolerance exists for over 130 crop species, there a re many vegetables which lack definitive data. Vegetable crops are defined as herbaceous species grown for human consumption in which the edible porti ons consist of leaves, roots, hypocotyls, stems, petioles, and flower buds. The salt tolerance of vegetable species is important because the cash valu e of vegetables is usually high compared to field crops. In this review som e general information is presented on how salinity affects plant growth and development and how different measurements of salinity in solution culture s, sand cultures, and field studies can be reconciled to a common basis. Th e salt tolerance of vegetables has been condensed and reported in a uniform format based on the best available data. Discrepancies and inconsistencies exist in some of the information due to differences in cultivars, environm ents, and experimental conditions. For a great number of species little or no useful information exists and there is an obvious need for research. Pub lished by Elsevier Science B.V.