Responses of cumin to salt stress

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.), a primary seed spice traditionally grown on marginal lands with low fertility is often irrigated with poor quality ground waters. A pot trial was conducted to study the effect on plant performance, nutrient uptake and leaf metabolism at 0, 4, 8,12 and 16 dS m⁻¹ levels of saline irrigation water. Salinity levels at and above 8 dS m⁻¹ significantly reduced seed yield, nutrient uptake and levels of most of the leaf metabolites such as total chlorophyll, starch and soluble protein. Nitrate reductase activity, however, was most sensitive to salt stress. The detrimental effects of increasing salinity on plant water status and metabolism were generally more pronounced at the flowering than at the vegetative stage. Salinity induced high accumulation of sodium and changes in K: Na ratio seem to cause derangement in growth and metabolism of cumin plants.