Study of the Interaction Salinity: Phosphorus Fertilization on Sorghum

Abstract

Soil salinity severely affects cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions. It causes, among other things, an imbalance in the mineral nutrition of plants which results in yields’ decrease. One of the research’s approaches to mitigate the effects of these constraints is to look at the interaction between sodium chloride and phosphorus. The aim is to study the action of phosphorus to reduce the harmful effects of salinity. This study was undertaken in a greenhouse, in a pot of vegetation. The model plant used is Sorghum (Sorghum vulgar var rocket). The interaction NaCl (S) × P is carried out with four concentrations of NaCl (S0 = 0.1 dS m−1, S1 = 2 dS m−1, S2 = 8 dS m−1, S3 = 32 dS m−1) and four doses of TSP (PO = 0 mg/pot, P1 = 200 mg/pot, P2 = 400 mg/pot, P3 = 819 mg/pot), that is 16 (SP) processing. The results obtained made it possible to identify the effect of the SP processing on the morphological parameters, on the assimilation of the NPK's major elements, and on the accumulation of proline. They clearly showed that by adding phosphorus there was a remarkable improvement as the Sorghum displayed tolerance towards salinity. This improvement is manifested by an increase in stem height, dry material yield, nitrogen and phosphorus uptake, and proline accumulation. The results obtained suggest that Sorghum culture in saline medium (EC ≤ 32 dS m−1) is possible.