Appendix K — Salt tolerance data

Data presented in Table K.1 serve only as a guideline to relative tolerances among crops. Absolute tolerances vary, depending on climate, soil conditions and cultural practices. Ratings according to Maas (1990): S sensitive, MS moderately sensitive, MT moderately tolerant, and T tolerant. \(SALT_{max}\) and \(SALT_{slope}\) are values for total salinity in soil water assuming total salinity (mg/cm³) = 0.64 x EC (dS m^-1) (Rhoades et al. 1992) and \(EC_{soil water} ≈ 2 EC_e\).

Table K.1: Salt tolerance data of Maas and Hoffman (1977)¹, West and Francois (1982)² and Francois et al. (1986)³ translated into SWAP salt input parameters

Crop common name	botanical name	ECmax (dS m-1)	ECslope (% per dS m-1)	SALTmax (mg cm-3)	SALTslope (cm-3 mg)	Rating
Fiber and grain crops
Barley1	Hordeum vulgare	8	5	10.24	0.039	T
Bean1	Phaseolus vulgaris	1	19	1.28	0.148	S
Corn1	Zea mays	1.7	12	2.18	0.094	MS
Cotton1	Gossypium hirsutum	7.7	5.2	9.86	0.041	T
Peanut1	Arachis hypogaea	3.2	29	4.10	0.227	MS
Rice (paddy)1	Oryza sativa	3	12	3.84	0.094	S
Rye3	Secale cereale	11.4	10.8	14.59	0.084	T
Sorghum3	Sorghum bicolor	6.8	16	8.70	0.125	MT
Soybean1	Glycine max	5	20	6.40	0.156	MT
Sugar beet1	Beta vulgaris	7	5.9	8.96	0.046	T
Sugar cane1	Sacharum officinarum	1.7	5.9	2.18	0.046	MS
Wheat1	Triticum aestivum	6	7.1	7.68	0.055	MT
Wheat, durum3	Triticum turgidum	5.9	3.8	7.55	0.030	T
Grasses and forage crops
Alfalfa1	Medicago sativa	2	7.3	2.56	0.057	MS
Barley (forage)1	Hordeum vulgare	6	7.1	7.68	0.055	MT
Bermuda grass1	Cynodon dactylon	6.9	6.4	8.83	0.050	T
Clover, ladino1	Trifolium repens	1.5	12	1.92	0.094	MS
Corn (forage)1	Zea mays	1.8	7.4	2.30	0.058	MS
Cowpea (forage)2	Vigna unguiculata	2.5	11	3.20	0.086	MS
Ryegrass, perennial1	Lolium perenne	5.6	7.6	7.17	0.059	MT
Sundan grass1	Sorghum sudanese	2.8	4.3	3.58	0.036	MT
Wheat (forage)3	Triticum aestivum	4.5	2.6	5.76	0.020	MT
Wheat, durum (forage)3	Triticum turgidum	2.1	2.5	2.69	0.020	MT
Vegetables and fruit crops
Bean1	Phaseolus vulgaris	1	19	1.28	0.148	S
Beet, red1	Beta vulgaris	4	9	5.12	0.070	MT
Broccoli1	Brassica oleracea botrytis	2.8	9.2	3.58	0.072	MS
Cabbage1	Brassica oleracea capitata	1.8	9.7	2.30	0.076	MS
Carrot1	Daucus carota	1	14	1.28	0.109	S
Corn, sweet1	Zea mays	1.7	12	2.18	0.094	MS
Cucumber1	Cucumis sativus	2.5	13	3.20	0.102	MS
Lettuce1	Lactuca sativa	1.3	13	1.66	0.102	MS
Onion1	Allium cepa	1.2	16	1.54	0.125	S
Potato1	Solanum tuberosum	1.7	12	2.18	0.094	MS
Spinach1	Spinacia oleracea	2	7.6	2.56	0.059	MS
Tomato1	Lycopersicon lycopersicum			3.20	0.077	MS

Francois, L. E., E. V. Maas, T. J. Donovan, and V. L. Youngs. 1986. “Effect of Salinity on Grain Yield and Quality, Vegetative Growth, and Germination of Semidwarf and Durum Wheat.” Journal Article. Agronomy Journal 78: 1053–58. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1986.00021962007800060023x.

Maas, E. V. 1990. “Crop Salt Tolerance.” Book Section to Agricultural Salinity Assessment and Management. ASCE Manuals and Reports on Engineering Practice, No 71, edited by K. K. Tanji. American Society of Civil Engineers, New York.

Maas, E. V., and G. J. Hoffman. 1977. “Crop Salt Tolerance-Current Assessment.” Journal Article. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division ASCE 103: 115–34. https://doi.org/10.1061/JRCEA4.0001137.

Rhoades, J. D., A. Kandiah, and A. M. Mashali. 1992. The Use of Saline Waters for Crop Production - FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 48. Book. FAO, Rome, Italy.

West, D. W., and L. E. Francois. 1982. “Effects of Salinity on Germination, Growth and Yield of Cowpea.” Journal Article. Irrigation Science 3: 169–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00446005.