Evaluation of the effect of nano and chelated iron fertilizer in Salicornia under salinity stress

Salinity is one of the most important abiotic stress in the arid or semi-arid regions of Iran. salinity-induced nutritional disorders may result from the effect of salinity on nutrient availability in soil and Reduction of nutrient uptake within the plant. In this study, seed germination and plant growth indices of Salicornia were evaluated in two stages. The first factor was salinity, including 0, 200, 400 and 600 mM NaCl and the second was Nano-Fe and chelated-Fe fertilizer. The experiment was carried out based on the factorial complete randomized design with two factors and three replicates. The results showed that with increased salinity, germination rate and percentage, Stem length, root length, seedling height, vigor index and stem weight were decreased. The 600 mM salinity in the vegetative stage caused a decline in growth, especially in the number of nodes, and root fresh and shoot dry weights. Nano-Fe and chelated-Fe fertilizer led to improving germination and a significant increase in Salicornia growth indices compared to control. In stress conditions, the application of nano-Fe more increased growth so that the highest root to shoot ratio (0.73) was obtained in the treatment of nano-Fe at 600 mM salinity. The maximum root volume and shoot height were detected in Nano-Fe fertilizer (respectively, 0.48 and 9.2) and chelated-Fe fertilizer (respectively, 0.43 and 8.8) that no significant differences between those. However, the application of both the nano-Fe and chelated-Fe, Particularly foliar spraying, can be useful in modulating salinity in the arid or semi-arid regions.