Role Of Soil Amendments In Saline Agriculture

Abstract

A study was conducted from rabi 1996/97 to rabi 1998/99 on a saline sodic soil in a farmer's field in Pindi Bhattian, Pakistan, to compare the relative efficiency of two sources of soluble calcium (gypsum and industrial CaCl2) for the reclamation of sodic soils and yield of wheat and rice on a long term basis. A significant increase in the yield of rice and wheat was observed in all treatments compared with the control. Equivalent amounts of CaCl2 and gypsum gave almost similar grain yield in wheat. Rice grain yield was significantly higher in gypsum treated plots than the respective CaCl2 treated plots. Sodium absorption ratio (SAR), electrical conductivity (EC) and pH of the soil were decreased by both the chemicals, but CaCl2 proved less effective compared with gypsum in lowering SAR and EC. A significant reduction in SAR of the soil was observed in all tested rates of gypsum as well as CaCl2 during 1996/97. The long term reclamation effect was visible even up to the 5th crop after reclamation.