ARS | Publication request: Screening for Salnity Tolerance Among Falcata Alfalfa PI's

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: December 29, 2008
Publication Date: July 1, 2009
Citation: Peel, M., Waldron, B.L., Jensen, K.B., Robins, J.G. 2009. Screening for Salnity Tolerance Among Falcata Alfalfa PI's. Crop Science 49:1359-1366 (2009).

Technical Abstract: Many western US rangelands high in salinity could benefit from a salt tolerant falcata type alfalfa. Our objective was to use a previously developed greenhouse screening protocol to characterize 32 PI's from the NPGS system for their relative ability to survive increasing levels of NaC1 relative to the alfalfa check cultivars Malone, Mesa Sirsa, Saranac, and Rambler. Significant variation for survival was observed among entries when overall trial mortality reached 50 and 75% (P<0.01). At both 50 and 75% overall trial mortality, two checks ranked 1st and 2nd but were not significantly different from 5 of the PI's. This suggests that there is variation for ability to survive saline conditions among the falcata alfalfa Pi's tested.