Using Seawater for Weed Management in Turfgrass

TL;DRAbstract

Long term use of herbicide can pose serious threat to environment. Alternative strategies to chemical herbicide in weed control have received increasing attention now a days. Salty water could be used to control weed in salt tolerant turfgrass areas. A series of experiments were conducted to examine the response of turfgrass species, common local weed species and soil microbial communities to salinity stress both singly and in combination with reduced rates of recommended herbicides. The plant species selected for evaluation in these studies were based on a detailed preliminary survey conducted in local turfgrass areas. Four salinity levels (0, 24, 48 and 72 dSm-1) were imposed on 16 turfgrass entries in glasshouse experiments to identify potential salt tolerant turf species. Tolerance ranking was based on 50% reduction of shoot and root dry weights, leaf firing and turf quality.Predicted salinity levels for 50% shoot and root growth reductions were, 17.0 – 39.8 and 18.8 – 49.4 dS m-1,

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