Salinity: What are the symptoms and what can you do?

Salinity means there is too much salt in the soil (Na, Ca, Mg, Cl, and SO4 mostly). Salinity will reduce the growth of the plants. The plants mat also get nutrient deficiencies.

Rice is most vulnerable to salinity at the young seedling stage (around transplanting) and from booting to flowering.

Symptoms:

tips of affected leaves turn brown

 

Plants affected by salinity

chlorotic patches appear on some leaves

plant stunting and reduced tillering

 

patchy field growth

 

dead and white branches on the panicle, and high spikelet sterility

 

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Reduce the damage by:

providing adequate irrigation and drainage (the best option but often not available or too expensive)

 

 

use of healthy seedlings

choosing salt tolerant varieties

 

good nutrient management (application of K can reduce salt toxicities, higher Zn and P rates are important on sodic soils)

and by soil amendments (organic amendments and/or gypsum can reclaim sodic soils)

 

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