Emergence and initial growth of albizia seedlings under irrigation with saline water

In order to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of salts in irrigation water on emergence and growth of albizia seedling (Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth.) an experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of the Department of Plant Sciences, Federal Rural University of Semi-arid, Mossoro, RN, in a completely randomized design with six treatments and four replications with 24 seeds in each plot. The treatments consisted of saline concentrations (EC) of 0.68 (supply water), 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0 and 7.5 dS m(-1), which were obtained by the addition of NaCl in water. The evaluated variables were: percentage of emergence of seedling, speed of emergence index, shoot length, root length, number of leaves, accumulated electrical conductivity of the substrate index, chlorophyll content, dry mass of root, stem, leaves and total. The salinity negatively interferes in all parameters assessed in proportion to its increase in irrigation water. With major damage at concentrations above 1.5 dS m(-1), characterizing this species considered as a glycophyte little tolerant to salinity.