Salt-tolerant forage cultivation on a saline-sodic field for biomass production and soil reclamation
✍ Scribed by M. Qadir; R. H. Qureshi; N. Ahmad; M. Ilyas
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 572 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1085-3278
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✦ Synopsis
Chemical reclamation of sodic and saline-sodic soils has become cost-intensive. Cultivation of plants tolerant of salinity and sodicity may mobilize the CaC03 present in saline-sodic soils instead of using a chemical approach. Four forage plant species, sesbania (Sesbania aculeata), kallar grass (Leptochloa fusca), millet rice (Echinochloa colona) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana), were planted in a calcareous saline-sodic field (EC, = 9.6-11.0 dS m-', SAR = 594-72.4). Other treatments included gypsum (equivalent to 100 per cent of the gypsum requirement of the 15 cm soil layer) and a control (no gypsum or crop). The crops were grown for 5 months. The performance of the treatments in terms of soil amelioration was in the order: Sesbania aculeata = gypsum > Leptochloa j i m a > Echinochloa colona > Elusine coracana > control. Biomass production by the plant species was found to be directly proportional to their reclamation efficiency. Sesbania aculeata produced 32.3 Mg forage ha-', followed by Leptochloa fusca (24.6 Mg ha-'), Echinochloa colona (22.6 Mg ha-') and Eleusine coracana (5.4 Mg ha-'). Sesbania aculeata emerged as the most suitable biotic material for cultivation on salt-affected soils to produce good-quality forage, and to reduce soil salination and sodication processes.