EFFECT OF GYPSUM (CaSO 4 .2H O) TO MITIGATE THE SALINE STRESS ON TOMATO PLANT [Solanum lycopersicum]

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Salinity is one of the most devastating abiotic stress factors which caused reduction in plant growth and development. But gypsum can mitigate the adverse effect of salt stress. So, the experiment was conducted to assess the effect of Gypsum to mitigate the saline effect of Tomato at the research field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh during October 2019 to March 2020. The two factors experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications. The factors were: Factor A: three levels of salinity viz. S -4 and S 3 -8 dSm -1 and factor B; the different concentration of gypsum viz. C -5 and C -10 mM. The treatments were applied at 30, 45, 70 days after transplanting (DAT). The highest value of morphological parameters and yield was observed at control level of salinity S 3 1 (dSm -1 ). At 75 DAT the highest plant height (79.67 cm), number of flower per plants, fruits per plant and yield per plant was respectively (48.0, 46.3, 3.11 kg). The lowest value was observed at S in all the cases. The yield of tomato was gradually decreasing with the increasing levels of salinity.The highest number of flower per plants (52.0), fruits per plant (49.8), and yield per plant (3.31 kg) was recorded at 5 mM Ca 2+ 3 treatment. This result showed that, the salt stress reduced the morphological parameters and yield (kg) with the increment of salinity and the exogenous Ca 2+ application can effectively mitigate the deleterious effect of salt stress in tomato. 1 1 -0, S -0, C 2 2