Summary
Crops sprinkled with saline irrigation water are subject to foliar salt absorption and injury as well as to injury from soil salinity. Yield reductions caused by soil salinity alone are well documented, and data are presented here for 71 agricultural crops. Factors affecting these data and their applicability to sprinkler-irrigated crops are discussed. Although foliar injury has been observed with many sprinkled crops, particularly tree crops, essentially no information is available to predict yield losses as a function of the salt concentration of the irrigation water. Salinity thresholds for sprinkling-induced foliar injury are estimated for some crops; however, climatic conditions greatly affect the onset and degree of injury. Managment strategies that minimize sprinkling injury are mentioned.
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Maas, E.V. Crop tolerance to saline sprinkling water. Plant Soil 89, 273–284 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02182247
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02182247