Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Iran National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (IRNCID), Ministry of Energy
2
Water Sciences and Engineering Department, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran
3
Karizab Rayan Pegah Co., Qazvin, Iran
4
Water Resources Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
Abstract
The expansion of saline lands in various regions, including the Allahabad Plain in Qazvin Province, has mainly resulted from human-induced factors, leading to reduced soil fertility and environmental degradation. This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of biological desalination using salt-tolerant plant species. A two-factor factorial germination experiment was carried out on 16 accessions of Onobrychis (sainfoin), Nitraria (Ghara-Dagh), Atriplex, oat (Avena sativa), Astragalus, Salicornia (populations from Bushehr, Golestan, Urmia, and Beiglouvi), Chenopodium quinoa (Sadough, Titicaca, and Rahmat varieties), Salsola, Suaeda, and Panicum, under three salinity levels: 2, 20, and 40 dS/m, prepared by diluting drainage water from the region. For each population, 25 seeds were placed in sterile Petri dishes and incubated for 14 days with three replications. Germination percentage, germination rate, and radicle and plumule lengths were measured. Results showed that Chenopodium quinoa, especially the Sadough variety, had 100% germination across all salinity levels and an average germination rate of 54.9 seeds per day, showing a significant advantage over other accessions. Among Salicornia populations, the longest plumule (1.9 cm) was observed in the Urmia population, and the longest radicle (1.4 cm) in the Beiglouvi population. However, greenhouse cultivation in the silty clay soil of the region, with a salinity of 91 dS/m, indicated that the growth of Quinoa and Salicornia, whether by transplanting or direct seeding, was not favorable. Therefore, due to the high soil salinity, phytoremediation using these species alone will not be effective. It is recommended that integrated approaches, such as the use of soil amendments along with environmental impact assessments, be considered before field implementation.
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