Abstract

ENRIQUEZ-ACOSTA, Emmanuel Alexander et al. Silicon as a salinity mitigator in the physiological variables of germination of three varieties of Solanum lycopersicum. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2023, vol.14, n.1, pp.85-96.  Epub June 19, 2023. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v14i1.3385.

At present, agricultural soils are affected by salinity due to the excessive use of synthetic fertilizers and poor quality of the water for agricultural irrigation. Currently, products based on silicon (Si) are being applied to help the sustainability of agriculture, in addition, Si benefits plants to have greater tolerance to pests and diseases, helps against heavy metal toxicity and acts against water and salt stress. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of silicon as a salinity mitigator on seed germination and initial growth of tomato seedlings. The work was carried out in the Germplasm laboratory of the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur, Mexico. The selected tomato varieties were cherry (Solanum lycopersicum var. Cerasiforme), beef (Solanum lycopersicum var. Floradade) and saladette (Solanum lycopersicum var. Río Grande). The experimental design was completely randomized with a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement, where factor A was saline concentrations (0, 25, 50 mM) of sodium chloride (NaCl) and factor B was silicon dilutions (0, 1, 2 mM). Each treatment included four repetitions of 25 seeds each. Tomato cultivars showed different effects regarding salinity. The cherry cultivar showed decreases in its germinative variables with increasing salinity, indicating that the Floradade and Río Grande cultivars are more tolerant to salinity. In this same sense, silicon presented a protective effect in the interaction (NaCl + Si), showing positive effects by increasing the variables evaluated.

Keywords : Solanum lycopersicum L.; silicon dioxide; sodium chloride..

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