INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF SALINE WATER IRRIGATION AND NITROGEN FERTILIZATION ON TOMATO GROWTH AND YIELD

Water is an important constituent of cell and
plays an important role in almost all biochemical
processes. High salt concentration in the root zone
impedes the water movement from soil to aerial parts
of the plant by reducing the available water for plant
uptake. Salinity is among the major limitations for
plant growth and productivity all around the globe
and the damage caused by high salinity is witnessed
as either loss of plant productivity or plant death.
Soil salinization is the result of different soluble salts
accumulation in the root zone. soil salinization is increasing at a rate of 10% annually and more than
50% of the arable land would be salinized by the year
2050. Approximately 4.5 million acres of cropland
in California have been reported to be affected by saline soils or saline irrigation water. The scenario in
Pakistan is also alarming where 1.89 out of 19.43
Mha irrigated cropland is salt affected. A pot experiment was carried out in the greenhouse at the
University of California, Riverside. Tomato was
used as the study plant and the experiment included
nine treatments representing different combinations
of three irrigation water salinity levels and three nitrogen fertilization rates. High salinity stress causes
the stress on plant growth and productivity due to the
effective increment in the osmotic stress, ion toxicity, and alterations in soil physical and chemical
properties