Amelioration of Sodic Soil for Wheat Cultivation Using Bioaugmented Organic Soil Amendment

Abstract

A novel bioaugmented organic amendment (SF OA ) [consisted of vermicompost (pre-enriched with plant growth promoting fungi) mixed with pressmud and Azadirachta indica (A. Juss.) seed cake] was developed to reclaim sodic soil and support wheat production. A field trial of the SF OA application with/without chemical fertilizers conducted in completely randomized design with four replications to compare growth, yield and seed protein contents of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on sodic soil. The favourable changes occurred in different properties of amended soils were studied. A combined application of chemical fertilizer and SF OA significantly (p < 0·05) increased the number of spikelet per plant (63%) and weight of grains per ear (65%) in the amended soil compared with the control. Likewise, the grain yield, weight of 1000 grains and seed protein contents of wheat were significantly (p < 0·05) increased in the combined application compared with other treatments. The expression of protein bands with molecular weights of 36, 52 and 66 kDa were higher in seeds of wheat under the combined treatment. The improvement in wheat production was attributed to significant favourable changes in different soil characteristics such as bulk density, total organic C, alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase and cellulase activities that were increased by 234%, 181%, 234%, 176%, 189% and 150%, respectively, in case of amended soil under the combined treatment compared with the control. The tested SF OA may be recommended as soil amendment for reclaiming sodic soil and supporting wheat cultivation with better crop growth and yield in combination with chemical fertilizers on sodic soil.

Nonadditive effects of biochar amendments on soil phosphorus fractions in two contrasting soils

“…The Haplic Luvisol showed increases in pH and CEC with biochar application (Table ), so P desorption may have been responsible for increasing P solubility (e.g., H 2 O‐P i ) in the soils (Jiang, Yuan, Xu, & Bish, ). Third, biochar application changed the form of Fe, Al, Ca, and other agents of P adsorption (fixation), all of which significantly influenced soil P transformation (Parvage, Ulén, Eriksson, Strock, & Kirchmann, ; Srivastava, Gupta, Shikha, & Tewari, ; Xu, Wei, Sun, Shao, & Chang, ). However, the previous studies indicated that biochar containing moderate Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ formed precipitates with phosphate in the soils and increases the phosphorus adsorption (Jiang, Yuan, Xu, & Bish, ).…”

Quantitative evaluation of pore characteristics of sodic soils reclaimed by flue gas desulphurization gypsum using X‐ray computed tomography

“…Soil salinization and alkalization are serious soil degradation problems worldwide, encroaching on limited arable land and causing decrease in agricultural yields in many arid and semiarid regions. This poses a severe challenge to the sustainable development of agriculture (Qadir et al, ; Shaygan, Reading, & Baumgartl, ; Srivastava, Gupta, Shikha, & Tewari, ). Because saline–alkali land is usually flat and easy to cultivate with a deep soil layer, the improvement of saline–alkali land can effectively increase the area of cultivated land to enhance agricultural productivity and food security (Chi, Zhao, Sun, & Wang, ; Qadir, Noble, & Chartres, ; Rasouli, Kiani Pouya, & Karimian, ).…”

Adsorption, desorption and fractionation of As(V) on untreated and mussel shell-treated granitic material

“…In the last years, numerous studies have indicated that restoration needs to recover soil functionality, and this call is taking place all over the world (Ahmad et al, 2013;Johnston et al, 2013;Mao et al, 2014;Moreno et al, 2014;Novara et al, 2014;Roy and McDonald, 2015;Sacristán et al, 2015;Sadeghi et al, 2015;Srivastava et al, 2014). Some authors indicate that this task should be accomplished with a broad view by considering how soils can interfere with human health (Brevik and Sauer, 2015).…”