Research article

EFFECT OF SALINE WATER IRRIGATION AND MELATONIN ON TWO CULTIVARS OF CAULIFLOWER

Abdulkareem N. Jasim1 and Abbas K. Obaid

Online First: March 24, 2023


An experiment was conducted in the agricultural research station / College of Agriculture / University of Basrah to study the impact of saline water irrigation and melatonin on two cultivars of cauliflower. The experiment included three factors, saline water irrigation at three levels (Ro, 2.5& 4.5 dsm-1), Melatonin at four levels (0,50,100 &150 mM l-1) and two Cultivars of Cauliflower (Nahar & Solid Snow). Results showed that the "Nahar"hybrid have a significant increase on "Solid Snow" hybrid in plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, dry weight, crud weight , total yield (38.712 ton.ha-1) and number of days to maturity 50%. Saline water irrigation caused a significant decrease in all the vegetative, flowering and yield growth characteristics. Foliar application of Melatonin (100 mM l-1) caused a significant increase in plant height, crud weight (1349.5 gm) and total yield (39.565 ton.ha-1), while (150 mM l-1) gave a significant increase in dry weight and decrease in the number of days to maturity 50%, the concentrations (100 &150 mM l-1) gave a significant increase in the number of leaves and leaf area.

Keywords

Cultivars, saline water irrigation, melatonin, Cauliflower