ASSESSMENT OF THE RESPONSE OF SOME MELON GENOTYPES (CUCUMIS MELO. L) TO DIFFERENT DOSES OF SODIUM CHLORIDE (NACI)

Soil salinity is one of the major problems in agriculture, most saline soils are found in arid and semiarid regions. As in other plant species, soil salinity also affects melon production. It is important to use tolerant varieties to be least affected by soil salinity. In present study, two local Turkish cultivar and three their crossed population (Semame, Uzbek, SemamexAnanas, AnanasxSemame and MidyatxAnanas) were tested under in vitro and pot experiments using different NaCI conditions(0, 100,150 and 200 mM). The results have shown that selection for salt tolerance high salt concentration (150 mMol) has negative significant effect on melon performance. Among the five tested cultivars, Midyat x Ananas and Uzbek showed more tolerance compared to other cultivars. In greenhouse, plant heigh, stem diameter and leaf length of Midyat x Ananas had their highest value at 100, 150 and 200 mM, respectively. Meanwhile, best performances of Uzbek for plant height, root dry matter content, root length, leaf length and diameter were obtained at 100 mM. Except for MidyatxAnanas, increase in salt concentration had less impact on plant growth. There was more correlation among morphological and physiological variable in greenhouse experiment compared to in-vitro experiment, therefore it is advised to select melon plants once they start flowering or at least after three months as it has been demonstrated in this experiment.