Response of soil salinity on leaf nutrient status on different varieties of African marigold (Tagetes erecta)

Six different varieties of African marigold (Tagetes erecta) viz. Local Selection, Pusa Basanti Gainda, Pusa Narangi Gainda, African Tall Orange, Sunset Giant and Inca Hybrid were grown in artificially prepared saline soils having 2, 4, 6 and 8 dSm⁻¹ EC levels apart from control (0.98), to evaluate the response of salinity on nutrient content in leaves and result thus obtained was expressed in % dry weight basis. The experiment was laid out in Factorial CRD design with a total of thirty treatments and three replications for the two consecutive years i.e. 2009–10 and 2010–11. It was found that nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium showed a gradual decrease with enhanced salinity level. The decrease was more pronounced at 6 and 8 dSm⁻¹ level while calcium and magnesium showed increase till 2dSm⁻¹ and further gradual decrease was also observed in this case also. Only sodium was found to increase with enhanced levels of salinity.