Department of Botany, Lucknow University, Lucknow, U.P.
A study was made of the effect of E.S.P. on the growth and mineral composition of barley plants grown in soils of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate series, each at nine E.S.P. and of paddy plants grown in soils of sodium carbonate, bicarbonate and sulphate series, each at thirteen E.S.P. Growth of barley and paddy plants was depressed at high E.S.P. on soils of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate series. In the sodium sulphate series, there was hardly any growth depression in paddy.
With an increase in the E.S.P. of the soils, (i) there was a marked increase in the tissue concentration of sodium in both barley and paddy plants in soils of the sodium carbonate and bicarbonate series; in the sodium sulphate series there was no appreciable effect of E.S.P. on tissue sodium in paddy, (ii) tissue concentration of phosphorus and manganese increased, while that of calcium decreased in both barley and paddy plants, (iii) tissue concentration of iron increased in paddy grown in the carbonate and bicarbonate series but not in the sulphate series; on the other hand in barley, tissue concentration of iron decreased in the carbonate series and there was no clear trend in the case of bicarbonate series, (iv) in the carbonate and bicarbonate series tissue concentration of potassium decreased in both paddy and barley, (v) tissue concentration of magnesium decreased in both paddy and barley in the carbonate series but showed a slight increase in the bicarbonate series, (vi) tissue concentration of sulphur increased in barley in the carbonate and bicarbonate series and in paddy, in the bicarbonate and sulphate series, (vii) in barley plant tissue, zinc decreased in both carbonate and bicarbonate series, while copper showed a decrease in the bicarbonate series and molybdenum an increase in the carbonate series.
