The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of compost and vermicompost as soil conditioners in alleviating salt‐affected soils and increasing maize productivity. A greenhouse trial, consisting of seven soil amendment treatments in a completely randomized design with three replications, was carried out at Khon Kaen University, Thailand, during the rainy season of 2011. Plant height and total dry matter of maize increased in treatments with compost and vermicompost application when compared with the control (no fertilizer) in two types of soils (saline and nonsaline) during the growing season. Soil pH and electrical conductivity in saturation paste extracts were decreased by compost and vermicompost amendments with or without earthworms when compared with unamended treatments in the saline soil. Compost and vermicompost amendments improved cation exchange capacity, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and extractable phosphorus in both soils. These amendments also increased exchangeable K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ while decreasing exchangeable Na+ in the saline soil, which suggested that Ca2+ was exchanged for Na+, exchangeable Na+, then leached out, and soil salinity reduced as a result. Soil microbial activities including microbial C and N and basal soil respiration were improved by the application of compost and vermicompost amendments with or without earthworms when compared with the control in both soils. This experiment showed that the compost and vermicompost were effective in alleviating salinity and improving crop growth. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Wheat growth and productivity are unfavorably pretentious by a lack of sufficient water (drought or water deficit) worldwide. Drought stress significantly affects all the morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics and the agronomical yield of wheat. Different management approaches have been adopted to cope with the negative effects of water deficit. Soil-applied vermicompost is helpful in improving the growth and developmental processes of wheat under water deficit conditions. Therefore, a trial was carried out to optimize the best amount of vermicompost and to assess its role in ameliorating the negative effects of drought for sustainable crop production. The treatments consisted of 1) two contrasting wheat cultivars Faisalabad-08 (drought-tolerant) and Galaxy-13 (drought-sensitive), 2) drought with three levels [D0 = 70% of field capacity (no drought), D1 = 45% of field capacity (mild drought), and D2 = 30% of field capacity (severe drought)] and 3) cellulolytic microbe-enriched vermicompost prepared from rice straw with four levels (VT0 = Control, VT1 = 4 t ha−1, VT2 = 6 t ha−1 , and VT3 = 8 t ha−1). Data on various morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters were recorded from sowing to crop harvesting. In this study, it was demonstrated that all these parameters were negatively affected by moisture deficit conditions. The application of vermi-fertilizer significantly increased (p < 0.05) the aforementioned parameters of wheat in both the absence and presence of drought. Under severe drought, VT2 treatment increased the seedling length by 14.02–26.14%, fresh weight by 15.16–22.91%, and dry weight by 0.37–28.20% in both cultivars compared with control. In addition, VT2 treatment reduced the leaf water potential by 6.36 and 3.36%, leaf osmotic potential by 1.74 and 1.68%, and increased the turgor potential by 4.83 and 3.36%, and photosynthetic rate by 18.59 and 26.42% in Faislabad-08 and Galaxy-13, respectively, over control. We concluded that the application of vermicompost is a valuable approach to alleviate the adverse impacts of water stress on wheat.