Response of barley and wheat to phosphorus in the presence of chloride and sulphate salinity

Summary The study was conducted in a greenhouse and under field conditions. In the greenoouse, barley was grown to maturity in pots on a sandy soil which contained 80 and 120 meq/l of chloride and sulphate dominant salts in its saturation extract, to which 0, 10, 25 and 50 ppm P were added. In the field study, wheat was grown on loamy sand soils having 0, 25, 50 and 75 kg/ha added P levels and irrigated with either Cl- or SO₄-dominant saline waters (EC=15–19 mmhos/cm). The results of the greenhouse study indicated that at maturity barley straw and grain yield was significantly increased by 50 ppm of added P both on the non-saline control and the Cl-treatments. However, 25 ppm P was optimal on the SO₄-treatments. The Cl content of plants was significantly decreased and S was increased with the increase in the P content of soil. A synergistic relation between the S and P content of barley shoots was observed. In the field study wheat grain yield responded significantly to P applications upto 50 kg/ha level on the Cl-site and there was no response to applied P on the SO₄-site, although the former contained more Olsen's P than the latter. The results suggested that P requirement of wheat and barley was greater on Cl- than on SO₄-salinity.