Comparison of Seed Production and Agronomic Traits of 20 Wild Accessions of Salicornia bigelovii Torr. Grown Under Greenhouse Conditions
Salicornia bigelovii is a succulent annual salt marsh halophyte that produces oil seeds on brackish and seawater irrigation. We compared oilseed and biomass production of 20 wild accessions of S. bigelovii grown under greenhouse conditions and irrigated with brackish (10 ppt TDS) water for two crop cycles while initiating a selection program to develop desirable agronomic traits for field cultivation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) The best performing accessions came from the Gulf of Mexico, USA and gave biomass yields of 1200 1800 g m 2 and seed yields of 188 244 g m 2, similar to open field yields under seawater irrigation. Agronomic traits were more consistent within accessions than between accessions, with differences between accessions less pronounced during Crop 2 than Crop 1. We found that ambient greenhouse temperature above 40degC reduced biomass and seed production in all accessions.