Performance of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre Seedlings in Nursery Under Salt and Water Stress Conditions

Abstract

Pot culture experiments were conducted with twenty treatment combinations of salt and water stress following Randomized Complete Block Design in the nursery of Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur for one year. 4, 8 and 12 ds/m concentrations of salt in combination with moderate and severe drought & moderate and severe waterlogged treatments in the soil were applied. The amount of water equal to the field capacity of the soil was given to each treatment (24.86%). The drought conditions were maintained according to Permanent Wilting point (PWP), which was calculated on the basis of Cumulative Pan Evaporation (CPE) values measured through Open Pan Evaporimeter. It was observed that height and collar diameter of P. pinnata seedlings decreased with increase in drought conditions but increased with increase in severity of waterlogging. Growth characteristics significantly decreased with increase in concentration of salts in the soil. Cumulative effect of water and salt stress was found to be more pronounced than individual stress.