Foliar application of some essential minerals on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plant grown under two different salinity regimes

Tomato (lycopersicon esculetum var. avinash,f1 hybrid) was grown under two different regimes of irrigation water (0.2% sea salt ec iw = 2.9 ds m -1 and 0.4% sea salt ec iw = 5.8 ds m -1) and subjected to foliar application of potassium,iron and boron. their growth was monitored on some vegetative,reproductive and biochemical parameters. ripe fruits were collected and total yield was determined in terms of their number,circumference and weight. reduction in growth was found proportional with increasing salinity of irrigation at all the parameters but foliar application of above mentioned essential minerals minimized the deleterious effects of salinity up to various extents. the significant improvement was observed in the number of fruits,circumference and weight of fruits,chlorophyll and protein contents of leaves,due to the foliar application of potassium,iron and the combined treatment of (k+fe+b) under both non saline and saline conditions. foliar spray of boron was not found much effective to improve all the growth parameters. reason of the growth promotion was assigned to the availability of these essential minerals for growth through foliar spray,as presence of excessive sodium in rooting medium would have reduced their uptake due to ion antagonism.