physiological studies on banana under salt stress condition

Abstract

This investigation was carried out during two successive seasons 1998 and 1999 on banana plants cv. Grand Nain which produced from tissue culture. Plants were 4 months old having I 0 leaves' at the start of this study. They were planted in black polyethylene bags filled with a constant weight (60 kgm) of clean sand. The experiment was conducted under the greenhouse condition in The Research Orchard ofHorticulture Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza. Plants were irrigated with tap water for one month, then with strogonove solution for Cl IOn on the 1st April at 0, 1000, 2000 and 3000 ppm up to 1 51 November. The study was run in four directions: ,<'' 1) Effect of salinity on plant growth parameters, 2) Effect of salinity on leaf minerals content, 3) Effect of salinity on leaf content of pigments and proline, and 4) Effect of salinity on anatomical structure of leaf and root. The results could .be summarized as follows: 1- Increasing salts concentration in irrigation water especially at 3000 ppm reducted•• the increase in pseudostem height of banana cv.' Grand Nain as compared with untreated plants. 2- Also, salinity of irrigation water restricted the pseudostem circumference, in parallel with increasing salt concentr tion.