Effect of Soil Salinity on Nutrient Concentration and Nutrient Ratio in Patchouli, Lemongrass and Mint Aromatic Crops

摘要

A pot culture experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Gangavati, Karnataka on a saline vertisol. Across salinity levels from 2 to 10 dS m~(-1), mint had higher mean tissue Ca content (3.24%) followed by lemongrass (2.75%). The tissue K content was highest in patchouli (2.14%) followed by lemongrass (1.55%) and least in mint (1.32%). The highest mean tissue Na was observed in mint (0.32%). The poor performance of mint crop compared to patchouli and lemon grass seems to its inabilityto arrest Na uptake. Irrespective of test crops, both K/ha and Ca/Na ratios decreased as soil salinity increased. The mean nutrient ratios irrespective of salinity levels indicated highest K/ha ratio of 0.13 in patchouli followed by 0.09 in lemongrass and lowest in mint (0.06). Lemongrass and patchouli maintained highest Ca/Na ratio (0.15) and lowest in mint (0.12). This also clearly indicated that mint is relatively more sensitive to salinity stress than lemongrass and patchouli.