SEA-CROP SALINITY TOLERANCE STUDY

In April of 2007 a study was run with potted winter wheat to determine if Sea-Crop can enable plants to better withstand the stress of being watered with highly saline irrigation water.

For the test, waters with different degrees of salinity were made up with tap water and non-iodized solar evaporated sea salt. The salinity standards used for the test were 8 decaSimons per square meter (8 dS/m), 16 dS/m and 32 dS/m. These equate respectively to approximately ½%, 1% and 2% sodium chloride solutions.

Two pots planted with 10 winter wheat seeds were used for each test solution. All pots were treated with Miracle-Gro solution to the manufacturer’s recommendation and one pot of each set was treated with Sea-Crop at the rate of 2 gallons per acre. The pots contained approximately 12 square inches of surface area. Each was watered with 75 ml of its saline solution to start the test. Each received another 50 ml on the 7^th day and a final 50ml on the 14^th day of the test.

On the 21^st day all tests were removed from the pots. Their roots were gently washed clean and the plants were desiccated and weighed. The average dried weights per seedling were as follows:

	8 dS/m	16 dS/m	32 dS/m
Untreated control	40.0 mg	29.0 mg	22.5 mg
Sea-Crop @ 2 gal/ acre	43.0 mg	33.0 mg	30.0 mg
Improvement	7.5%	13.8%	33.3%

In each test there was a significant increase in salt tolerance in the treated sample over the control. As salinity (stress) increased the benefit of Sea-Crop treatment became more apparent.

It is interesting to note that the average per seedling weight of the treated sample watered with 2% NaCl solution was actually greater than the untreated sample watered with the 1% solution. It is possible that treatment with Sea-Crop at higher Application rates could have an even greater benefit.

The results of this test indicate that Sea-Crop can be used beneficially in areas where only saline irrigation water is available.