Effect of Different Concentrations of Red Sea Water on Germination and Growth of Some Forage Species.

The experiment was carried out in The Faculty of Agriculture (University of Khartoum).Four types of plants which are known to be tolerant to saline water were selected for this study: Chloris gayana, Cyampsis tetragonoloba,, Eragrostis tef (tremula) and Sorghum bicolor. Two experiments were carried out; the first a laboratory experiment to test the effect of salinity on seed germination and the second a pot experiment for studying the effect of salinity on plant growth tolerant to salinity. For studying germination, filter papers on Petri dishes were wetted by Red Sea water mixed with freshwater at different EC levels ranging from 0.4 to 16.57 dSm-1. The dishes were arranged in completely randomized deign (CRD).For the pot experiment the completely randomized deign (CRD) was chosen also for the study of the effect of salinity of irrigation water on plants growth for the period (February2007 to May 2007). Different levels of mixed water were chosen with loamy sand soil; each treatment was replicated four times. The germination test experiment showed that seeds germinated at mixed water levels having EC 16.57 dSm-1, 16.57 dSm-1,5.54 dSm-1 and 5.54 dSm-1 for Sorghum bicolor, Cyamopsis tetragonolob, Eragrostis tef and Chloris gayana respectively. The pot experiment showed that the plants grew satisfactorily up to EC 16.57 dSm-1, 16.57,5.54 dSm-1 and 5.54 dSm-1 for Chloris gayana, Eragrostis tef and Sorghum bicolor respectively, but Cyamopsis tetragonoloba failed at EC growth highly 3.09 dSm-1. It has been found that plant seed germination and plant significant difference (p> 0.01) decreased with increased Red Sea water in the irrigation water depending on the type of plant. This study recommended blending Rea Sea water with freshwater for irrigation of some plants of forage crops on the coarse-textured soils near Red Sea coastal basin