Salt tolerance of crops according to three classification methods and examination of some hypothesis about salt tolerance

This publication is a complement to a previous publication on salt tolerance classification, using the observations of a long-term experiment on the use of saline water. Three classification methods were compared, based, respectively, on the electrical conductivity of the saturated paste extract, the relative evapotranspiration deficit and the water stress day index. Among the eight crops grown during the experiment, broadbean, soybean and tomato were clearly distinguished by the methods based on the relative evapotranspiration deficit and the water stress day index as more sensitive then durum wheat, maize, potato, sugar beet and sunflower. Their greater sensitivity may be explained by the salt sensitivity of rhizobium bacteria affecting the nitrogen supply, by the degree of osmotic adjustment or by the prolongation of the flowering period.