Enhancing salt tolerance in adult tomato plants by drought pretreatment applied at the seedling stage

In this study seedling of tomato plants, grown in seedling trays, were subjected to drought (at the 5th leaf stage) for the maximum period that permitted subsequent recovery of at least 90% of the pre-treated plants. Pre-treated and non pre-treated seedlings were transplanted in field plots (36 m2 ) . After well establishment of transplants, they were either irrigated with non-saline water (0.55 dSm-1 ) or saline water (4.5 d Sm ) Drought pre-treatment reduced reduction percentage of growth parameters and yield of tomatoes, as influenced by irrigation with saline water, than those of un pre-treated. However, differences between values of such parameters in both drought treated or non-treated plants were not significant except with plant dry weight. It could be suggested that such interesting strategy need further studies in order to maximize the efficiency of this technique in increasing salt tolerance in crops.