Green long pepper growth under different saline and water regime conditions and usability of water consumption in plant salt tolerance

Abstract

Both electrical conductivity of soil saturation paste extract (ECe) and plant water consumption (ET) should be considered for assessing crop yield tolerances to salinity since ET decreases by increased salinity effects. In this study, conducted in a greenhouse under controlled conditions, it was afforded to use soil salinity and water consumption for the purpose of assessing plant responses to salinity. Additionally, growth and yield of green long pepper (Capsicum annuum L. Demre) under different saline and water regime conditions were examined. For these purposes, the green long pepper were exposed to six water salinity levels (S1= 0.65; S2= 2.0; S3= 3.0; S4= 4.0; S5= 5.0 and S6= 7.0 dS m-1) and four water application rates (IR1= 1.43; IR2= 1.0; IR3= 0.75 and IR4= 0.50 times of depleted water). The yield response factor (Ky), is 1.56 for salinity stress and 1.66 for water stress. Water consumption of the plant exponentially decreased (ET= 0.83×ECe-0.17) whereas relative fruit yield decreased linearly (7.03%) for unit increase in soil salinity after a threshold value of 1.20 dS m-1. A stronger three-dimensional relation was found among relative yield, relative water consumption and soil salinity (R2= 0.94). Using water consumption as a second factor in evaluation of plant response to salinity may be useful for reflecting effects of different climatic conditions.