Growth and nutrient uptake of tomato in response to application of saline water, biological fertilizer, and surfactant

ABSTRACT

The importance of using low-quality water, such as saline waters, for food production has been increased in the recent decades. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of diluted seawater (electrical conductivity (EC) of 6 dS m⁻¹) on growth and nutrient uptake of tomato. We examined if surfactant (0, 1, 2, 4 mg L⁻¹) and biological fertilizer (compost tea + arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi propagules) have potential to alleviate the adverse effects of salinity on tomato plant. Salinity stress significantly reduced all plant growth parameters. Under salinity stress, nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) contents in tomato shoot were lower, while phosphorus (P), sodium (Na), and calcium (Ca) contents were higher than non-salinized plants; showing ionic imbalance in this condition. Biological fertilizer improved root weight in saline condition. Under salinity stress surfactant application at the rate of 1 mg L⁻¹ helped tomato plants to maintain their ionic balance, especially declining Na uptake, and improved plant growth.

KEYWORDS:

• Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
• root weight
• salinity stress
• seawater

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Aquatrols Company for providing the surfactant material. Many thanks to Duncan McKee, Monica Salembier, Prof. Joyce Jong, and Dr. Valerie Mellano for their technical and administrative support in this project. The mention of commercial products or trade names in this manuscript is solely for the purpose of providing information and does not imply recommendation or rejection of the products.