Salinity stress effects on three different olive cultivars and the possibility of their cultivation in reclaimed lands

The use of underground saline water for irrigation became essential in agricultural lands of many countries .Twelve-month-old olive young trees (Olea europaea L. cv Picual, Manzanillo and Aggizi Shami) were exposed to different salinity levels (0, 2000, 3000 and 4000 mg L-1) for 275 days in order to understand the differences among those cultivars, regarding salinity resistance. In specific, the main aim was to select the suitable cultivar for growing in the reclaimed lands in Egypt, which are suffering from poor irrigation sources, forcing the growers to use underground saline water. At the end of this experiment the effects of different salinity concentrations (0, 2000, 3000, 4000 mg L-1), on growth, physiological and biochemical parameters were determined. The obtained results assumed that, the tolerance to salinity stress was as follows: Picual > Manzanillo > Aggizi Shami. The previous order of salt stress tolerance was proven by a lower decrement in vegetative growth parameters (seedlings height, number of leaves and leaf area), relative water content, total chlorophyll content, and greater increment of proline, soluble carbohydrates, and electrolyte leakage. Also the capacity of the elimination procedure of Na+ and Cl_ in the root system.