Growth, yield and quality of ber<i>(Zizyphus mauritiana</i>Lamk.) as affected by soil salinity

Abstract

In a long term experiment on salt tolerance, ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) (cv. Umran) was grown in lysimeters artificially salinized with NaCl, CaCl2, MgCl2 and MgS02. No plants survived the highest salinity of 20 dSm-1 electrical conductivity. Pruning weight and tree canopy area were reduced significantly at 5 dSm-1 but trunk diameter did not decrease until above 5 dSm-1 soil ECe. The concentration of Na, Ca, Mg and Cl in leaf tissues increased substantially with increasing salinity whereas that of K decreased. Higher salinity reduced the yield and fruit set but had no adverse effect on fruit quality. The 50% yield decrement was found to be associated with a soil ECe value of 11.30 dSm“'.