Ameliorative Potential of Palmarosa for Reclamation of Sodic Soils

Abstract

To evaluate the ameliorative potential of the high value crop, Palmarosa, for reclamation of sodic soils, an experiment was conducted in glazed pots with artificially prepared sodic soils having different ESP levels at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, India during 1994–95 and 1995–96. The results revealed that plant height, number of tillers per plant, and herb yield decreased significantly with increase in soil ESP. However, oil yield increased significantly (24.5%) at ESP-55 over ESP-16 (control). Further increases in soil ESP up to 85 decreased the oil yield compared to the yield obtained under ESP-55. The growth of Palmarosa in sodic soils of varying ESP reduced the soil ESP from 2 to 20 units during the two years of experimentation. The sodium (Na) concentration in the plant tissue increased significantly with increasing levels of soil ESP, whereas concentrations of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K), in general, decreased with increases in soil ESP. The highest uptake of Na and K was noted at ESP-55 and brought down the soil ESP by 20 units during the course of investigation. However, the highest uptake of Ca and Mg was noted at ESP-16 (control). It may be concluded that growing of Palmarosa in sodic soils would bring down the soil ESP substantially without the use of chemical amendments for reclamation. The crop would also give high return from its cultivation in sodic soils.