Effect of different cultivation methods on germination and growth of Puccinellia tenuiflora

The effects of drip irrigation and different cultivation methods on seedgermination and growth of Puccinellia tenuiflora in saline-sodic soils wereinvestigated in field experiments during 2008-2010 in the Songnen Plain, China.Drip irrigation was applied to waste saline-sodic P. tenuiflora grasslands for bothflat and ridge cultivation methods. Drip irrigation affected the distributions ofelectrical conductivity of saturated-soil extract (ECe) and pH of the saline-sodicsoil. After cropping under drip irrigation for two years, the ECe and pH haddecreased greatly in the root zone on both the flat and ridge lands, and enabledP. tenuiflora seeds to germinate and grow rapidly. In addition, the plant height,number and length of spikes, coverage and aboveground biomass were all higheron the flat than on ridge land, but the differences of the two cultivation methodswere not obvious. Compared to ridge planting, the flat planting method was moreconvenient, and flat cultivation and drip irrigation may be appropriate forrestoration of saline-sodic grasslands.

Keywords:

saline-sodic soils , Planting methods , Puccinellia tenuiflora , Grassland restoration