Effect of amending materials on growth of radish plant in salinized soil

Abstract

The critical Na levels in soil which restricted seed germination and growth of radish, and effect of the amending materials on reducing the salinity hazard were determined by performing petri dish and pot experiments. The plants were grown in amended salinized soil in a phytotron for 21 days. Excess accumulation of Na in cells suppressed seed germination and plant growth. The critical Na level in control soil which restricted germination and growth was 12.5mg Na/g soil. At the same salinity level, amending materials promoted seed germination and plant growth mainly by inhibiting the excess flow of Na into the cell through ion holding mechanism. Among the materials used, the commercial manure of 4 months old held greater amount of Na(3.7mg/g) and thus more efficiently reduced the ion damage. Plants grown under such treatment had the highest dry matter yield (28.Gmg/plant), water content was normal(84%), and the ratio for Na in root to Na in plant's shoot was 2.4. As for the case of plant grown in control soil the respective data were 8. 5mg, 54%, and 4.8.

Notes

Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo‐ku, Tokyo 113 Japan