The effect of soil salinity on common root rot of spring wheat and barley

Abstract

Samples were taken from several sites across a salinity gradient from areas where plants were visibly unaffected to the edge of saline areas where no plants grew, from commercial fields located near Saskatoon in 1984, 1987, 1990 and 1991. There was a significant (P = 0.05) positive correlation for wheat and barley between salinity and common root rot in all years, except 1991 (1984: r = 0.445, n = 26; 1987: r = 0.390, n = 54; 1990: r = 0.244, n = 75; 1991: r = 0.247, n = 40). The correlation between inoculum level and disease was not significant, except for one barley field in 1990. However, when inoculum level was used as a covariate, the significance of the relationship between salinity and common root rot increased. Growth of Cochliobolus sativus was unaffected on solid and liquid media until conductivity levels were higher than 30–50 mmhos cm−1. Since wheat and barley do not grow at levels higher than 10–15 mmhos cm−1, salinity would have a greater affect on plants than on the pathogen. The relationship between salinity and disease is consistent with the theory that stress increases common root rot in plants. However, the variation in salinity only explains about 20% of the variation in common root rot. Key words: Cochliobolus sativus, common root rot, salinity, cereals