Title: Increasing the Salinity Tolerance of Alfalfa to Improve the Effectiveness of Agronomic-Hydrologic Practices for Controlling Root-Zone Salinization
Abstract: Recommendations for controlling root-zone salinity in dryland agriculture include: (1) growing alfalfa in ground water recharge areas; (2) lowering near-surface, saline water-tables by utilizing phreatic waters with deep-rooted alfalfa, and (3) one-time flushing of saline seedbeds prior to seeding alfalfa. Alfalfa serves as an important element in all three strategies. Recent developments in breeding dormant-type alfalfa populations have resulted in eight candidate cultivars with greater salinity tolerance. After an initial screening, two were further evaluated and compared to Rangelander alfalfa, known for its tolerance by hay producers in the northern Great Plains and Canadian Prairies. The Salinity Tolerance Indices (STI) of Bridgeview and Halo (PGI 427) equaled 7.77 and 8.27, respectively, and exceeded the STI of Rangelander (6.79) by 15 and 22%. Dryland salinity rarely exists uniformly across a field; salts typically accumulate in varying concentrations within small-to-medium patches scattered among the more negligibly saline areas and comprise less than 50% of the total area. The total alfalfa yield from such mixed fields depends on the cultivars inherent ability to produce forage in both saline and non-saline root zones. The value of increased salinity tolerance in an alfalfa cultivar depends on the specific agronomic-hydrologic practice used to control root-zone salinization. The more frequent and the closer the contact of the alfalfa roots with the saline soil, the greater the merits of the cultivars salinity tolerance. Identification of the salinity tolerance of the alfalfa used in the salinity control forms an essential part of selecting the most appropriate remedial agronomic-hydrologic practice.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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