Responses of eight chile peppers to saline water irrigation
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Salt tolerance of five cultivars of Capsicum annuum L. Early Jalapeno, Golden Treasure, NuMex Sweet, NuMex Joe E. Parker, and Santa Fe Grande, two cultivars of C. chinense Jacq. Habanero and Pimienta De Chiera, and one accession of C. annuum, NMCA 10652, were evaluated in a field study. Seedlings were transplanted in late May to field raised beds containing loamy sand soils in a semi-arid environment. Plants were well irrigated throughout the experiment. Three saline solution treatments, prepared by adding NaCl, MgSO 4 , and CaCl 2 to tap water at different amounts to create three salinity levels of 0.82dSm -1 (control, tap water), 2.5dSm -1 , and 4.1dSm -1 electrical conductivity (EC), were initiated on 15th June and ended in late August. Among the eight varieties, NMCA 10652 had the highest survival percentage at 100% in the 4.1dSm -1 treatment, followed by 'Early Jalapeno', 'NuMex Sweet', 'Pimienta De Chiera', 'Santa Fe Grande', 'Golden Treasure', and 'NuMex Joe E. Parker'. 'Habanero' had the lowest survival at 28%. Compared to control, final shoot dry weight of the plants irrigated with saline solution at 4.1dSm -1 was reduced by 92% in 'Habanero', followed by 'Golden Treasure' at 80%. For fruit fresh weight in 4.1dSm -1 vs. control, 'Habanero' had the highest reduction at 86%, followed by 'Golden Treasure' at 74%, while NMCA 10652 and 'Santa Fe Grande' had the least at 26% and 19%, respectively. NMCA 10652, the most tolerant to salinity, had the lowest leaf Na + accumulation, while 'Habanero', the most sensitive to salinity, had the highest Na + in the leaves. For leaf Cl - , 'Early Jalapeno' had the highest, while 'Habanero' had the lowest Cl - accumulation in the leaves. Generally, sensitive varieties accumulated more Na + and/or Cl - in leaves, except for 'Early Jalapeno', which was relatively tolerant to salinity but had high Na + and Cl - accumulation in leaves. 2010 Elsevier B.V.
