The Effects of Irrigation Water Salinity, Nitrogen and Foliar Application of Calcium Chloride on Yield and Growth Indices of Pepper

To study the effects of irrigation water salinity, nitrogen, and foliar application of calcium chloride on yield and growth indices of pepper, a factorial pot experiment was carried out in Znajan Agricultural Research Center in 2010 using a completely randomized design and three replications. In this experiment, four levels of nitrogen (0, 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg), four levels of salinity (0.7, 1.5, 3 and 6 dS/m) and two levels of foliar spray (with and without spray) were used. Analysis of variance showed that the effects of salinity were significant on yield, number of fruit, length and diameter of fruit, dry weights of root, plant height and dry weights of leaf and fruit, and these parameters decreased as the salinity levels increased. Yield and growth indices of pepper plant increased as the nitrogen levels increased, but fruit length and diameter were not affected by nitrogen application. Foliar application of calcium chloride was not effective on growth indices of pepper under saline conditions. But interactive effects of salinity and nitrogen was significant on plant yield. When the salinity levels of treatments were 0.7 or 1.5 dS/m, the plant yield increased as the nitrogen levels increased. However under the salinity levels of 3 dS/m, the plant yield increased when the nitrogen levels did not exceed 150 mg/kg. At higher salinity level (6 dS/m), application of nitrogen decreased the plant yield as compared to control.