Abstract
Due to water scarcity, the use of underground brackish water in an efficient way is a dire need to improve soil conditions as well as crop growth. To obtain this objective, a field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of organic amendments (compost, farm yard manure and poultry manure) alone and in combination to mitigate the negative impact of poor quality water on chickpea (Cicer arietinum) growth and soil properties. Soil samples were collected before organic amendments application and also after crop harvesting. At flowering, plants were uprooted from each plot for collecting nodulation data whereas data regarding growth and yield components of chickpea was recorded at maturity. The results showed that application of organic fertilizers not only caused significant effect on growth and yield components of chickpea but also improved physico-chemical properties of soil by mitigating the negative impact of brackish water. Soil electrical conductivity, sodium adsorption ratio was significantly low and nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter contents were higher in organic amendments treated soil. Organic manures also differed significantly regarding their effect and better results were obtained where farmyard manure was applied alone or in combination with poultry manure and compost. The results indicate that application of organic manure could be a better strategy to alleviate the negative impact of brackish water on crop and soil.
Mujahid Abbas Malik, Sajid Mahmood Nadeem, Muhammad Ibrahim, Safdar Hussain. (2015) Effective use of brackish water for improving soil properties and chickpea (Cicer arietinum) growth through organic amendments, The Journal Soil & Environment , Volume 34, issue 1.
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