Growth of avocado plants under saline conditions

Abstract

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is an important multipurpose tree crop. A study was conducted to investigate the growth and gas exchange characteristics of avocado seedlings growing under different salinity levels. Plants were grown in 4.5 liter plastic pots containing soil were subjected to 0 (control), 15, 30, 45 and 60 mM NaCl salinity treatments. Growth, net photosynthetic rate (PN), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration rate (E), water use efficiency (WUE) and chlorophyll (chl) concentration decreased in response to increasing salt concentration. Substomatal CO2 concentration (Ci) and chloride content increased as salt concentration increased. The findings from this study demonstrate that salinity inhibits growth and gas exchange of avocados.