TABLE IV-14. Relative Tolerance of Crop 



Plants to Salt, Listed in Decreasing 



Order of Tolerance ' (181). 



High salt tolerance Medium salt tolerance Low salt tolerance 

 VEGETABLE CROPS 



High salt tolerance Medium salt tolerance Low salt tolerance 



ECeXlO= = 12 



Garden beets 

 Kale 



Asparagus 

 Spinach 



EC„xlO' = 10 



EC. X 10= = 10 



Tomato 

 Broccoli 

 Cabbage 

 Bell pepper 

 Cauliflower 

 Lettuce 

 Sweet corn 

 Potatoes (White 



Rose) 

 Carrot 

 Onion 

 Peas 

 Squash 

 Cucumber 

 EC, X 10^ = 4 



EC„XlO'=4 



Radish 

 Celery 

 Green beans 



EC, X 10= = 3 



FIELD CROPS 



ECeXl0' = 16 



Barley (grain) 

 Sugar beet 

 Rape 

 Cotton 



ECeXlO= = 10 



EC„xlO= = 10 



Rye (grain) 



Wheat (grain) 



Oats (grain) 



Rice 



Sorghum (grain) 



Corn (field) 



Flax 



Sunflower 



Castorbeans 



ECeXlO= = 6 



EC, X 10= = 4 



Field beans 



FORAGE CROPS (in decreasing order tolerance) 



EC, X 10= = 18 



Alkali sacaton 



Saltgrass 



Nuttall alkali- 

 grass 

 Bermuda grass 

 Rhodes grass 

 Rescue grass 

 Canada wildrye 

 Western wheat- 

 grass 

 Barley (hay) 



Bridsfoot trefoil 



ECeXl0= = 12 



150 



ECeXlO= = 12 



White sweet- 

 clover 



Yellow sweet- 

 clover 



Perennial rye- 

 grass 



IVIountain brome 



Strawberry clover 



Dallis grass 



Sudan grass 



Hubam clover 



Alfalfa (California 



common) 

 Tall fescue 

 Rye (hay) 

 Wheat (hay) 

 Oats (hay) 

 Orchardgrass 

 Blue grama 

 Meadow fescue 

 Reed canary 

 Big trefoil 

 Smooth brome 

 Tall meadow 



oatgrass 

 Cicer milkvetch 

 Sourclover 

 Sickle milkvetch 

 EC. X 10= = 4 



ECeXlO= = 4 



White Dutch 

 clover 



Meadow fox- 

 tail 



Alsike clover 



Red clover 

 Ladino clover 

 Burnet 



ECeXlO= = 2 



FRUIT CROPS 



Date palm 



^The numbers following ECp X 10=^ are the electrical con- 

 ductivity values of the saturation extract in milllmhos per 

 centimeter at 25 C associated with 50-percent decrease in yield. 



data suggest that the effects of ECe values pro- 

 ducing 10 to 50-percent decrements (within a 

 range of EQ values of 8 to 10 mmhos per cm 

 for many crops) may be considered approximately 

 linear, but for nearly all crops the rate of change 



Ay 



in yield per unit change in ECe, 



AECe '■ 



either 



steepens or flattens slightly as the yield decrements 

 increase from less than 25 to more than 25 per- 

 cent. Bernstein (14) also points out that most 

 fruit crops are more sensitive to salinity than are 

 field, forage, or vegetable crops. Rootstock and 

 varietal differences in salt tolerance of fruit crops 

 are so large that it would be meaningless, for most, 

 to give crop tolerances. The data also illustrate the 

 highly variable effect of ECe values upon different 

 crops and the nonlinear response of some crops to 

 increasing concentrations of salt. 



In considering salt tolerances of crops, it should 

 be noted that ECe values are used. These values 

 are correlated with yields at field moisture content. 

 If soils are allowed to dry out excessively between 

 irrigations, yield reductions are much greater since 

 the total soil water stress is a function of both 

 matric suction and solute suction and increases 

 exponentially on drying. Good irrigation manage- 

 ment can minimize this hazard. 



Relative salt tolerance values may vary ac- 

 cording to stage of growth (77). The germinating 

 seedling is usually most sensitive to salinity as 

 salt tends to accumulate in the surface few inches 

 of soil. This was demonstrated for a group of 

 grain and pasture plants in west Australia (113). 

 Bernstein (14) points out that some plants, such 

 as sugar beets, are sensitive to salinity during 

 germination; others are affected more during early 

 seedling growth, and well-established plants will 

 usually be more tolerant than new transplants. 



