Assessment of Sodium Chloride (NaCl) Induced Salinity on the Growth and Yield Parameters of Cichorium intybus L

The present study was done on the hypothesis that excess sodium chloride (NaCl) in the soil decreases the growth and yield of Cichorium intybus L. To investigate this hypothesis, a pot experiment was conducted in which chicory seeds were sown in garden soil-filled earthen pots and treated with three different doses of sodium chloride (45, 75, and 105 mM kg-1 soil) except the control, and each treatment was replicated three times. The results revealed that all the saline treatments significantly (p≤0.05) reduced the vegetative (including root and shoot length, dry weight, number of leaves, leaf area, number of branches, and photosynthetic pigments) and reproductive (mean fruit number/plant, mean seed number/fruit, and total seed yield/plant) growth parameters of Cichorium intybus. On increasing NaCl concentration in the soil, chlorophyll content significantly (p≤0.05) decreased while proline content in the fresh leaves increased significantly (p≤0.05). From the results, it is concluded that Cichorium intybus L. can tolerate a moderate level of sodium chloride stress (45-75 mM NaCl kg-1 soil) but is sensitive to high doses of sodium chloride stress (105 mM NaCl kg-1 soil).