Gas exchange and leaf area of banana plants under salt stress inoculated with growth-promoting bacteria

ABSTRACT Banana orchards in arid and semiarid regions require the use of irrigation. However, presence high concentration salts water can impair development plants, requiring evaluation new technologies to mitigate effects stress. The objective this study was evaluate gas exchange leaf area banana seedlings cultivar Prata Catarina inoculated with strains Bacillus spp. under different electrical conductivities irrigation water. experiment carried out a greenhouse at Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry, Fortaleza, Ceará state, Brazil. design used randomized blocks, 4 × factorial scheme, first factor being inoculation treatments: without any application; slow-release fertilizer; Strain 186 109, second conductivity (0.5; 1.5; 3.0; 4.5 dS m-1), five blocks each plot consisting three plants. negatively influenced cv. vegetative stage, during 89 days cultivation. 109 did not improve plants salinity conditions.