Saline water irrigation of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) under Mediterranean conditions

Abstract

Field experiments were set up in order to evaluate the yield response of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd. cv. Titicaca) to irrigation with saline and fresh water under Mediterranean climate from 2010 to 2012 in Adana, Turkey. Irrigation treatments in 2010 and 2011 comprised full irrigation with fresh water, full irrigation with saline water of different salt concentrations (40, 30, 20, 10 dS m–1), deficit irrigations with fresh water (50%, 75% of full irrigation), partial root-zone drying, and deficit irrigation with saline water of 40 dS m–1 (50%). In 2012, in addition to the full irrigation treatments, two deficit irrigation levels of 67% and 33% of full irrigation with fresh or saline (30, 20, 10 dS m–1) water were considered. The results indicated that grain yields were slightly reduced by irrigation water salinity up to 30 dS m–1 compared with fresh water irrigation. Salinity and drought stress together interfered considerably with crop grain and biomass yields. However, salinity stress alone did not interfere with grain and biomass yield significantly; therefore, quinoa may be defined as a crop tolerant to salinity. Yield parameters such as aboveground biomass, seed yield and harvest index suggested a good adaptation of quinoa cv. Titicaca to Mediterranean environments.