Integrated Nutrient Management Fostered Economic Yield and Bioactive Principle of Medicinal Herb (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) in Saline Soil of Semi-Arid Region of Western India

Enriched soil amendments influenced soil fertility, herbage yield and bioactive principle of medicinal plant (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) grown in two different soils

“…A better congenial environment in terms of pH, electrical conductivity and biological parameters prevailed in non-saline soil during plant growth period resulted in higher sennoside yield as compared to slightly saline soil. The similar results were reported by previous studies in which application of organic amendments recorded higher sennoside yields in non-saline soil as compared saline soil [ 46 ]. One of the reasons for better performance of ENC in slightly saline soil could be higher organic carbon content in ENC than BFM.…”

“…However, duration of present investigation was not enough to claim the stability of the SOC pool. On the other hand, rapid mineralization of native soil C in the CF treatment led to decrease in SOC content [ 46 ]. The positive impacts of FYM and enriched amendments on soil pH, EC and SOC in different soil types have been reported in different studies [ 17 , 20 , 47 , 48 ].…”

“…Organic fertilizers improve soil physicochemical environment, available nutrients and the metabolic substrates, which create ideal environment for soil microorganisms [ 52 ]. Thus, organic fertilizer improves microbial growth and soil enzyme activity instead of chemical fertilizer [ 46 , 53 ]. MBC is the most active component of SOC, which responds quickly to the input supply [ 54 ].…”