Rubber production of salt-stressed guayule at various plant populations

Abstract

The hypothesis that increasing the plant population of guayule (Parthenium argentatum) to compensate for the reduced plant canopy size caused by soil salinity coupled with an anticipated enchancement of rubber production under the moderate environmental stress imposed by salinity was tested in a field plot experiment in the Imperial Valley of California. Irrigation waters having electrical conductivities (EG i ) of 1.2, 3.2, 6.5, and 9.4 dS/m were applied for 4 years to plots having plant populations of 28,000, 56,000, and 84,000 plants per hectare. The influence of salinity on rubber and resin production was independent of plant population. The salt tolerance threshold, maximum average salinity level of the root zone measured as the electrical conductivity of saturated soil extracts (\(\overline{\overline {{\text{EC}}}} _e \)) without yield reduction, was 7.5 dS/m; beyond this threshold, rubber production was reduced 6.1% per unit increase of soil salinity. The salinity values were averaged through the root zone from planting to harvest. The average rubber content — 7.9% — was altered little by treatment or harvest age for 2- to 4-year-old plants. Resin content averaged 8.4% but increased salinity and increased plant population increased the resin content slightly in some cases. Dry matter production of shoots for the nonsaline treatment was 259 kg/ha/month for pollarded (clipped) shoots after 31 months, 203 kg/ha/month for shoots harvested after 43 months, and 401 kg/ha/month for the 24-month period after pollarding. Combining the shoot mass after 31 and 55 months gave an average growth rate of 321 kg/ha, supporting the recommendation for pollarding. Monthly growth rates for the lowest salt treatment (3.2 dS/m) were about 10% less than for the nonsaline treatment (1.2 dS/m). The hypothesis tested was proven to be false because neither increased salinity nor increased plant population increased rubber production.