The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of salinity of irrigation water on cowpea and identify genotypes tolerant to salt stress in the eaR Ly stages of its development. The levels of electrical conductivity (EC) of irrigation water were 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 dS m-1. The tolerance of cowpea was evaluated by the relative reduction in shoot dry matter of each genotype. The results were compared and analyzed by Scott-Knott test at 0.05 level of probability. All variables were affected by increasing salinity of irrigation water. The genotype CE-182 was more tolerant at EC of 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 dS m-1 of water salinized with NaCl. In the solution containing mixture of salts, the genotypes CE-9 and CE-551 were the most tolerant.
Vigna unguiculata; salinity; tolerance
