Chloride, at high concentrations, might be toxic to many crops and contributes to the overall salinity. Common symptoms of chloride toxicity in plants include necrosis of leaf margins and tips, which typically occur in older leaves first. Excessive leaf burn might eventually result in leaf drop.
Water containing chloride concentration of less than 150 mg/l of chloride are safe for most crops, provided that proper irrigation management practices are applied.
In addition to above , chloride toxicity normally occurs when certain ions are taken up with the soil-water and accumulate in the leaves during water transpiration. The toxic ions chloride can also be absorbed directly into the plants through the leaves moistened during sprinkler irrigation. The presence of chloride in the soil solution also reduces the ability of the plants to take up water and this leads to reduction in the growth rate which also known as osmotic effect.
In addition to above , chloride toxicity normally occurs when certain ions are taken up with the soil-water and accumulate in the leaves during water transpiration. The toxic ions chloride can also be absorbed directly into the plants through the leaves moistened during sprinkler irrigation. The presence of chloride in the soil solution also reduces the ability of the plants to take up water and this leads to reduction in the growth rate which also known as osmotic effect.
Yes, J.C. chloride toxicity harmfull but up to what level it is tolerable in irrigation water?
@ Ashokkumar, it depends on the crops and their cultivar but normally it ranges between 120-190 mg/Litre
I think somechloride sensitve crops like Tobacco not able to tolerate that limits
A high content of chloride in irrigation can be harmful to crops and soils. First, it will reduce the PH rate of soils or make the soil acidity, hence the crops will lose their ability to grow on a certain acidic soil.
The most common toxicity is from chloride in the irrigation water. Chloride is not adsorbed or held back by soils, therefore it moves readily with the soil-water, is taken up by the crop, moves in the transpiration stream, and accumulates in the leaves. If the chloride concentration in the leaves exceeds the tolerance of the crop, injury symptoms develop such as leaf burn or drying of leaf tissue. Normally, plant injury occurs first at the leaf tips (which is common for chloride toxicity), and progresses from the tip back along the edges as severity increases. Excessive necrosis (dead tissue) is often accompanied by early leaf drop or defoliation. With sensitive crops, these symptoms occur when leaves accumulate from 0.3 to 1.0 percent chloride on a dry weight basis, but sensitivity varies among these crops. Many tree crops, for example, begin to show injury above 0.3 percent chloride (dry weight).
A chloride toxicity can occur by direct leaf absorption through leaves wet during overhead sprinkler irrigation.
Chloride makes the water more acidic. The oxidation capacity of chloride ions is well known perhaps leading to toxicity or harm to the young saplings.
Overall chloride concentration more than 150 ppm in irrigation water harmful to crops
In addition to toxicity, excess chloride content can increase the TDS in water which is easily absorbed by the plants and accumulated in plant tissue and changes the osmotic pressure of the cell sap resulting in decrease in uptake of essential nutrients from the soils.
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