1Horticulture Research Institute , Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt
2Chemical and physical soil Research Department-Soil, Water and Environmental Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 growing seasons at the experimental farm of the Vegetables Research Department, Horticulture Research Institute, Dokki, Giza Governorate, Egypt. The experiment investigated the effects of different irrigation salinity levels on the growth potential of cassava plants (Indonesian cultivar) grown in sandy loam soil. Cassava plants were subjected to six irrigation water salinity levels: 0.44 (control), 0.98, 2.04, 3.33, 8.82 and 13.50 dS/m. Four replications of a randomized complete block design were carried out. The data indicated that cassava vegetative growth characteristics were decreased with increasing salinity in irrigation water. At harvest time, no cassava plants were stayed in plastic bags that received high concentration of saline water treatments (3.33, 8.82 and 13.50 dS/m) in both seasons. The saline concentricity (0.98 and 2.04 dS/m) not only contribute accumulation of sodium, chloride and hydrocyanic acid in cassava leaves at five months from planting and in tuber roots at harvest but also led to significant reduction in potassium and tuber roots starch percentage compared to control in the two seasons. The concentration of salts in irrigation water has a great impact on some soil characteristics which (EC, pH, CEC, Ca2 and CO3). The Productivity Index (PI) distribution for soil productivity classes was medium, based on the computed values that were obtained.