Response of two varieties of lentil to soil salanity

Two varieties of lentil were grown in tanks filled with clay, and were irri gated with waters containing three different levels of salinity. Salinity a ffected the germination and survival of the seedlings; the pre-dawn leaf-wa ter potential and maximum osmotic adjustment; the development of leaf area, dry matter and number of flowers, and, finally. the yield. Lentil has a high water-use efficiency, about 2 kg m(-3) under non-saline c onditions, much higher than legumes such as broadbean and soybean. The crop , however, is much more salt sensitive and can only be grown on non-saline soils. At an ECe of 2 dS/m, the limit between non-saline and slightly salin e soils, the yield reduction is about 20% and at an EC, of 3 dS/m it is 90- 100%. The salt tolerance classification, made after a greenhouse experiment with nutritive solutions, was not confirmed by the experiments reported here. (C ) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.