Author(s):

Smita Kumari and CK Jha

Abstract: The effect of salinity levels on various promising sugarcane genotypes under NaCl induced salt stress condition has been evaluated under controlled condition at Sugarcane Research Institute, RPCAU, Pusa. The salt stress up to ECe value 5.0 dS/m favors buildup of moderately alkaline soil environment (pH 8.4) with accumulation of soluble salts in root zone (EC 3.0 dS/m). The cations viz. Ca²⁺ + Mg²⁺ decreased while Na⁺ and anions viz. carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride and SAR were increased in soil saturation extract due to salt stress. The mean available macronutrients content of soil varied significantly for available N (221-240), available P (18.4-20.0) and available K (99.8-121.8) kg/ha. The micronutrients of post harvest soil Fe (7.9-9.0), Zn (0.65-0.74), Cu (0.99-1.2) and Mn (4.0-4.7) mg/kg, also varied significantly. The result indicated that available macro and micronutrients content of soil decreased with increase in toxic ions significantly with increasing levels of salinity. The increasing salinity significantly decreased concentration and uptake of NPK by sugarcane plant. The brix, pol and purity coefficient of sugarcane juice was adversely affected due to salinity. The deterioration in juice quality parameters due to toxic effect of NaCl resulted in low cane juice extraction (39 %). The reduction in mean cane yield (28.1%) and sugar yield (33.2 %) was observed due to salinity over control. Among sugarcane genotypes, performance of BO154 followed by CoP112 recorded significantly superior as compared to rest of the genotypes in terms of cane and sugar yield under saline soil environment as compared to rest of the genotypes under study. The result indicated that salinity of ECe value 5dS/m leads to accumulation of toxic ions and nutrient constraints in soil and their associated affect hindering performance of promising genotypes in terms of cane yield, sugar yield coupled with deterioration in juice quality as compared to the respective attributes in normal soil.

Pages: 2043-2047  |  934 Views  265 Downloads

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