426828

Effect of Water Salinity on Germination of Different Crops in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions: Assessing Seed Tolerance to Irrigation Salinity

Article

Last updated: 11 May 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Soil physics and water conservation

Abstract

Water salinity is the most critical factor limiting the yield and production of different crops in arid and semi-arid areas. Salt tolerance during germination is generally reflected in further growth and salinization of soils by low water quality affects crop yield worldwide. This work tries to tackle different seed varieties against high salinity since its early ontogeny stages. The effect of various water salinity levels, 0.685, 1.89, 1.95, 2.33, 3.97, and 6.40 dS/m, on germination of tomato, squash, wheat, and barley, was investigated. As salinity indices, the following parameters were determined: EC, pH, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), sodium salinity potential (SSP), and potential salinity (PS). In addition, germination indexes were taken into account, such as the coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG), germination rate index (GRI), and mean germination time (MGT). Results showed that lower levels of salinity (0.685, 1.89 and 1.95 dS/m) improved the germination rates for all studied seeds without great affecting the percentages of increase when compared with the control (freshwater). The high salinity at 6.4 ds/m significantly reduced the germination attributes, particularly in the case of CVG, GRI, and MGT. A partial salinity tolerance was observed in squash and tomato. Most significantly, a negative correlation of the different germination attributes to a salinity of 3.97 dS/m was detected, indicating that such water was not suitable for irrigation, especially for tomato, wheat, squash, and barley. Conclusion: All the studied seedling attributes may serve as proper indicators for the evaluation of the suitability of saline water for irrigation purposes. The ascending order of saline water irrigation potential was arranged as follow: canal water (0.685) > 1.95 > 2.33 > 3.97 dS/m. Higher salinity is injurious in seedling was attained after 6.40 followed by 3.97 dS/m.

DOI

10.21608/ejss.2025.370079.2075

Keywords

water salinity, salinity indices, coefficient of velocity of germination, germination rate index and Mean germination time

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Abd El Hady

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Water Relations And Field irrigation Dept., Agricultural and Bio. Res. Institute, NRC, Egypt

Email

hadymnrc60@gmail.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

0000-0003-2753-6983

First Name

Hani

Last Name

Mansour

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Water Relations Dept., Agricultural and Bio. Res. Institute, NRC, Egypt

Email

mansourhani2011@gmail.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

0000-0001-5353-7053

First Name

Giovanni

Last Name

Esposito

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering University of Napoli Federico II Via Claudio 21, 80125, Napoli, Italy

Email

gioespos@unina.it

City

Napoli

Orcid

0000-0003-0565-7127

Volume

65

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

51050

Issue Date

2025-06-01

Receive Date

2025-03-20

Publish Date

2025-06-01

Print ISSN

0302-6701

Online ISSN

2357-0369

Link

https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_426828.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=426828

Order

426,828

Type

Original Article

Type Code

19

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Soil Science

Publication Link

https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Effect of Water Salinity on Germination of Different Crops in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions: Assessing Seed Tolerance to Irrigation Salinity

Details

Type

Article

Created At

11 May 2025