Effect of saline irrigation water on yield and bio-chemical parameters of leafy vegetables

An experiment was conducted at Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh to study the effect of saline irrigation water on yield and bio-chemical parameters of leafy vegetables during the Rabi season of 2022-23 and 2023-24. Among the different leafy vegetable crops like coriander, fenugreek and spinach, significantly the highest yield, coriander equivalent yield, germination% and lowest Na/K ratio were observed with treatment combination saline irrigation water 2 dS/m with spinach crop and significantly higher chlorophyll content was recorded with irrigation water having EC<2 dS/m with fenugreek crop. Among the parameters under study, yield, coriander equivalent yield, germination%, plant height and chlorophyll content decreased and Na/K ratio and proline content increased with increase in salinity levels of irrigation water from 2 to 8 dS/m. While, significantly the highest proline content was observed when spinach crop irrigated with saline irrigation water having EC 8 dS/m. While, higher mean salinity index and mean seed yield, minimum yield decline at EC 8.0 dS/m and for 50% yield reduction at EC 8.02 dS/m, as well as lower Na/K ratio in seed and stalk were observed with spinach. Spinach crop found more salt tolerance as compared to coriander and fenugreek on the basis of salinity indices.