Management of Saline-Sodic Soil through Press Mud and Sulfur Application for Wheat-Pearl Millet Cropping System

Abstract

Press mud is a nutrient-rich organic residue and elemental sulfur being a reclamation agent in combination or alone can be used for rehabilitation of salt-affected soils on wheat-pearl millet crops. The results of present study revealed that press mud and sulfur hold excellent potential to reclaim the saline-sodic soil and alleviate the salinity stress in wheat and pearl millet crops. However, integrated use of sulfur (S) and press mud (PM) demonstrated the positive effects on soil health and crop resilience. Application of S @ 50% gypsum requirement (GR) with PM @ 10 t ha-1 showed better results than all other treatments and increased the plant height, number of tillers, spike length, 1000 grain weight, straw yield and grain yield of wheat by 11.16%, 9.87%, 27.93%, 15.65%, 33.54% and 50.26% respectively. Same trend was observed in pearl millet and the plant height, number of tillers, panicle length, grain panicle-1, 1000 grain weight, and grain yield were increased by 16.66%, 22.85%, 13.11%, 9.74%, 13.64%, and19.37% respectively over control. Integrated use of sulfur and press mud also ameliorated the soil properties and reduced the soil pH (4.57%), EC (15.26%), SAR (56.26%), and BD (10.11%) and increased HC (32.5%). Therefore, the integrated sulfur application @ 50% GR and press mud @ 10 t ha-1 are recommended as an effective reclamation strategy to manage the saline-sodic soil for better productivity of wheat and pearl millet crops.