Most vegetable crops are sensitive to salinity.
Salinity can affect crop growth through specific-ion toxicities and osmotic effects.
Specific-ion toxicity occurs when the concentration of one ion is high enough to cause injury in a plant. Boron, chloride, and sodium are a few of the ions that impede plant growth and development. Specific-ion toxicity causes leaf burn on the tips and margins of crop leaves. Osmotic effects also result in decline in yield and quality due to the movement of water from the cells of plant root to the soil-water system outside the roots. At normal salinity levels, water moves from the soil-water system to plant roots because of the higher concentration of constituents in the root cells.