Investigate on the effect of salinity and culture medium on nutrient absorption and yield of three strawberry cultivars

Strawberry fruit has a high nutritional value and is cultivated worldwide. In recent decades, due to the lack of water resources, low-quality water is used for plant irrigation. This research was conducted in two separate experiments as a completely randomized design with three replications. In first study the effects of four salinity levels of 0, 20, 40 and 60 mM sodium chloride were studied on Kurdistan, Camarosa and Selva strawberry cultivars. In second experiment the effect of four culture mediums including perlite, cocopeat and two combination levels of perlite and cocopeat under salinity conditions on yield and leaf area index in Kordistan cultivar were studied. Leaf and fruit nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sodium contents were measured in three replications. In general, there was no significant difference between strawberry cultivars in absorption of most nutrient elements under different salinity conditions. The lowest Na accumulation under 60 mM salinity stress was recorded in ‘camarosa’ leaves. In all three cultivars, the highest reduction in nutrient absorption rate of the fruit was related to potassium content with amount of 41.74% under all salinity conditions. The highest fruit yield was seen in perlite medium. With increase in salinity level, the fruit yield was decreased, and the lowest decrease was recorded in perlite medium.