African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12481

Full Length Research Paper

Assessment of the effect of salinity on the early growth stage of the common sunflower (Sanay cultivar) using spectral discrimination techniques

H. Turhan1*, L. Genc2, S. E. Smith3, Y. B. Bostanci2 and O. S. Turkmen1
1Department of Field Crops, Agricultural Faculty, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17020 Canakkale, Turkey. 2Department of Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Faculty, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17020 Canakkale, Turkey. 3School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA.
Email: [email protected].

  •  Accepted: 24 January 2008
  •  Published: 18 March 2008

Abstract

Salinity is one of the main limiting factors for agricultural production. This is especially true in arid and semi-arid regions of the world like Turkey. The objective of this study was to determine if the effect of salt concentration on the physiological and physiological features of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) could be measured using remote sensing techniques. Sunflower seedlings were grown under controlled conditions and irrigated with ½ Hoagland Solution containing three different concentrations of NaCl (salt) (0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%). The results showed that plant growth decreased proportionally with increasing levels of NaCl. Chlorophyll concentration and a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were derived for the plants using a spectroradiometer. There was found to be a significant (r2 = 0.76) correlation between chlorophyll and NDVI values. Therefore, factors that can be derived through remote sensing such as NDVI and chlorophyll can be used to indirectly demonstrate the impact salinity has on sunflower plants. Therefore, agriculturalists can assess growth rate changes caused by salinity using remote sensing techniques.

 

Key words: Salinity, plant growth, chlorophyll, NDVI, spectroradiometer.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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