Soil and water salinity and sodicity is among the salient environmental stresses which impair productivity of all the arable crops. Damages induced by such stresses could be decreased by the application of certain soil amendments. Hence, a threeyear field study was conducted to evaluate the effects of several amendments to improve growth of fodder beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris cv. Kawai terma) grown in a saline-sodic field (ECe = 5.05 dS m and soil gypsum requirement (SGR) of 10.52 t ha -1 for 0-15 cm soil depth. The amendments included gypsum application at 100 and 50% of SGR, gypsum application at 25% of SGR + 10 t ha -1 farm manure (FM), chiseling + gypsum application at 25% of SGR, chiseling + gypsum at 25% of SGR + 10 t ha -1 FM and sulfur application equivalent to 50% of SGR. In control plot fodder beet was grown without any amendment. Analysis of three-year pooled data indicated that all the amendments significantly improved soil physical-chemical properties and fodder beet yield. However, data proved the supremacy of gypsum application at 100% of soil GR, and chiseling + gypsum at 25% of SGR + FM at 10 t ha -1 in improving soil properties like bulk density, organic matter, hydraulic conductivity, pHs, ECe, SAR and fodder beet root and shoot biomass than all the other amendments and the control. The effectiveness of amendments remained in the order: chiseling + gypsum at 25% SGR + FM at 10 t ha -1 = gypsum at 100% of SGR > gypsum at 25% of SGR + FM at 10 t ha -1 > gypsum at 50% SGR > sulfur = gypsum at 50% of SGR > chiseling + gypsum at 25% of SGR > control. A considerable improvement in soil properties by growing fodder beet without any amendment indicated its potential to be used as an agent of biological reclamation of saltaffected soils. It is concluded that combined application of gypsum at 25% of SGR plus FM @ 10 t ha -1 with chiseling in saltaffected field effectively improved growth of fodder beet and reclaimed saline-sodic soil and have future prospects.

Effective use of salt affected soils needs the development of the most efficient and suitable reclamation technology to optimize farm management and better crop yields. Different chemical methods and amendments are used to reclaim the salt affected soils and after reclamation such soils may be used for sustainable agricultural production. Choice of a chemical amendment depends on its availability, cost, handling and time of application. Application of sulfur is very effective technique to suppress the uptake of undesired toxic elements and to improve the quantity and quality of produce in salt affected soils. So, a three-year field experiment was carried out to evaluate the comparative reclamation efficiency of two sulfur sources, i.e elemental sulfur and gypsum to improve the soil conditions by reducing the salinity/sodicity impact and yield characteristics of rice and wheat crop. A saline-sodic field {(EC e = 6.10 dS m -1 , pH s = 9.21 and SAR = 41.67 (mmol L -1 ) 1/2 , SO 4 -S = 16.0 (mg kg -1 ) and soil gypsum requirement (SGR) of 9.10 t ha -1 for 0-15 cm soil depth} was selected. The treatments included were: control, gypsum application @ 100 SGR, S application @ 25, 50, 57, 100 and 125 % of SGR. Statistical analysis of three-year pooled data showed that varying levels of sulfur and gypsum significantly improved soil properties and rice-wheat yield than control, however, gypsum @ 100% of soil GR was at par with S @ 125 and 100% of SGR in term terms of improving yield component of both test crops and reducing soil pH s , EC e and SAR. Efficiency of treatment could be arranged as gypsum @ 100% SGR = S @ 125 % of SGR= S @ 100% of SGR> S @ 75 % of SGR> S @ 50 % of SGR> S @ 25% of SGR>control.

| Scarcity of the feed and fodder availability in winter season has been considered as the foremost bottleneck in harnessing the potential of the livestock sector in Pakistan. In this perspective a field study was conducted for three consecutive years (2013 to 2015) at Soil Salinity Research Institute, PindiBhattian, Hafizabad, Pakistan to evaluate different nitrogen levels and the cost-effective sowing technique for oat forage production under salt affected conditions. Two sowing methods i.e. broad cast and drill sowing with 30 cm apart rows and four nitrogen levels (75,100,125 and 150 % of N recommended dose i.e. 150kg ha -) were tested. Recommended dose of PK fertilizer (85-60 PK kg ha -1 ) was used uniformly with experimental N rates. Data on plant height (132.00 cm), number of plants (91.33 m -2 ), number of tillers (146.00 m -2) , number of leaves tillers -1 (5.66), total dry matter (17.70 t ha -1 ) and fodder yield (60.90 t ha -1 ) showed that nitrogen application @ 150 % N of recommended dose with drill sowing proved to be the most cost effective technique for fodder oat production in salt affected soil as compared to other treatments.

W heat is a major grain crop and primary staple food of Pakistan and it is a major source of carbohydrates and energy (Chattha et al., 2017a(Chattha et al., , 2018. The seed of wheat contains 2.11% minerals, 68% carbohydrate, 2.9% fat, 15.4% proteins and an important source of calories and micro-nutrients Abstract | Delayed wheat sowing is the main factor responsible for the lower yield of wheat owing to low temperature during emergence and early growth. Seed size has an appreciable potential to improve stand establishment, growth, and yield under late sowing conditions. Therefore, the present study was performed to assess the impact of diverse seed sizes (SS) on the growth and yield of wheat crop under late sowing conditions. The study was comprised of different sowing dates (SD), SD 1 : 15 th December, SD 2 : and 30 th December and different seed size classes i.e. bold (having a diameter of > 2.7 mm), medium (having a diameter of > 2.3 mm to 2.7 mm), small (having a diameter of ≤ 2.3 mm) and mixed seeds. The results indicated that different sowing dates and seed size classes had a significant effect on germination, growth, and yield of wheat crop. The crop sown on 15 th December took less time to start emergence (7.8 days) and resulted in maximum plant height (81 cm), grains per spike (44.5), productive tillers (321.5), spike length (10.2 cm), 1000 grain weight (37.2 g), and grain yield (3.83 t ha -1 ) and maximum time to start emergence (11 days) and minimum plant height (60 cm), grains per spike (35.7), productive tillers (273), spike length (8.6 cm), 1000 grain weight (32 g), and grain yield (2.7 t ha -1 ) was recorded in the crop sown on 30 th December. In the case of seed size classes, bold seed performed appreciably well and took less time to start emergence (8.5 days) and had more plant height (74.7 cm), productive tillers (326), spike length (10.1 cm), grains per spike (45), 1000 grain weight (37 g), and grain yield (3.67 t ha -1 ) compared to other seed size classes. In conclusion, bold seed size can significantly improve the wheat production under late sown conditions due to better stand establishment, vigorous germination, and increase in yield related traits.

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A ny material (organic or inorganic), applied to soil to provide one or more essential plant nutrients is called fertilizer (Vidya and Lakshmi, 2014). Weeds are one of the overlooked natural resources that can support and help to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. The addition of compost to salt-affected soil improved the soil properties including soil porosity water holding capacity, improved nutritional status, bulk density, soil pH s , EC e and SAR (Zaka et al., 2018;Wright et al., 2007).Aquatic weed, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) grows at an alarming rate and float freely on rivers, ponds, lakes etc. (Lata and Veenapani, 2011). Due to its harmful effects on people's livelihoods and water bodies, it is known as the most obnoxious weed in the world (Wilson et al., 2005;Singh and Bishnoi, 2013). Attempts made to control this weed through different means like biological, physical and chemicals have met with little success (Abdelsabour, 2010). Nonetheless, different researchers presented the idea to obtain the benefits from this aquatic weed rather than seeing it as a rogue plant (Anjanabha and Abstract | Composting the unwanted aquatic weeds for supply of essential plant nutrients and improving the health of salt-affected soil is a simpler technique. Therefore, present research work was carried out to appraise the efficacy of water hyacinth compost as an ameliorant for improving the deteriorated properties of saline-sodic soil. Treatments included were; T 1 , control, T 2 , gypsum @ 100 % GR, T 3 , gypsum @ 50 % of GR, T 4 , hyacinth compost @ 15 t ha -1 , T 5 , gypsum @ 50 % of GR + hyacinth compost @ 5 t ha -1 , T 6 , gypsum @ 50 % of GR + hyacinth compost @ 10 t ha -1 , T 7 , gypsum @ 50 % of GR + hyacinth compost @ 15 t ha -1 . At start of study, soil had pH s (pH of soil saturated past) = 8.91, SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) = 44.24, EC e (electrical conductivity of soil extract) = 5.02 (dS m -1 ), GR (gypsum requirement) = 10.18 (t ha -1 ), BD (bulk density) = 1.66 (Mg m -3 ), HC (hydraulic conductivity) = 0.35 (cm hr -1 ). Rice and wheat, crops were grown in the rotation. Data analysis showed that gypsum and hyacinth compost remarkably improved the soil SAR, pH s , EC e , BD, HC, growth and yield characteristics of rice and wheat crops, however at the same time use of gypsum and hyacinth compost in combination proved more superior to their sole application. Hyacinth compost @ 10 and 15 t ha -1 with gypsum @ 50 % of GR performed equally in all studied parameters of rice and wheat crops and soil properties. Therefore, integrated use of gypsum @ 50 % of GR + hyacinth compost @ 10 t ha -1 , seem as economical and a potential agro-ecological strategy for improving the deteriorated properties of saline-sodic soil and crop production.

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