Abstract

Recently, boron (B⁺) toxicity has received a great deal of attention as it decreases yield of crops significantly. In this study, we investigated whether the application of different levels calcium (Ca²⁺) could alleviate B⁺ toxicity in Durum wheat induced by high levels of B⁺ present in irrigation water. Durum wheat cv. Ege-88 was grown in soil culture with four levels of B⁺ (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg kg^-1 soil as HBO₃) and three levels of calcium (0, 100 and 200 mg kg^-1 as CaOH). B⁺ and Ca²⁺applications increased shoots concentrations of these nutrients in a linear fashion, while increased Ca²⁺ application reduced B⁺ concentrations in the shoots. According to the analysis results, increased B concentrations were decreased while Ca concentrations increased dry matter in shoot. These results suggest that liming has potential to alleviate B⁺ toxicity and improve crop yield in Durum wheat.

Key words: Boron, boron toxicity, calcium, Durum wheat.