How does saline water affect alfalfa growth?
Saline water reduces plant growth to varying degrees, with grass and grain crops generally showing less sensitivity and field crops being most sensitive. Aside from biomass reduction, salinity can have additional effects on plants. For example, in a study by Bauder et al., both inoculated and non-inoculated alfalfa were grown with irrigation waters of progressively higher salinity levels (Figure 1). Alfalfa nodulation (ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen) was reduced and actual weight and number of nodules decreased when plants were irrigated with moderately saline water. Growth of alfalfa plants was also inhibited, even with nitrogen fertilizer application. Growth of alfalfa decreased linearly with each increase in irrigation water salinity. Increasing salinity of irrigation water caused a greater decrease in yield for non-inoculated alfalfa than for inoculated alfalfa.
