Fodder production with saline water : final report -- January 1989-December 1991

The objective of the program was to study the response of six forage species to a range of salinity levels with the idea of selecting salt-tolerant fodder for production with saline water irrigation. The work in Israel started in the spring of 1989. Six forage crops -- Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) cv. common, Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon L. Pers.) cv. Suwannee, Kallar grass (Leptochloa fusca L. Kunth), salt (spike) grass (Distichlis spicata L.), seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) -- were sprinkler irrigated with water of electrical conductivity ranging from 1.2-10 dS/m. It was concluded that Bermuda grass is the most promising fodder crop for water and soils of high salinity, and that work must be continued to select cultivars with lower fiber content. Furthermore, in view of the demonstrated high salt tolerance of salt grass, there is a need for further work with this nondomesticated species for the purpose of selecting and breeding genotypes with better nutritional value. In Portugal, rye grass (Lolium multiflorum) was planted in the fall of 1990 on a slightly saline soil. The crop was not irrigated. Dry matter yield was about 2.43 kg/m2, a relatively high yield for dryland conditions. Rhodes grass, Bermuda grass, seashore paspalum, and salt grass were planted in the summer of 1991. Unfortunately, the trials planned for these grasses could not be carried out due to failure of the saline water well to supply adequate quantities of water to the field. (Author abstract)