Response of two varieties of lentil to soil salinity

Abstract

Two varieties of lentil were grown in tanks filled with clay, and were irrigated with waters containing three different levels of salinity. Salinity affected the germination and survival of the seedlings; the pre-dawn leaf-water 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 conditions, 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 saline soils, the yield reduction is about 20% and at an ECe 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.