Integrated Use of Organic Manures and Chemical Fertilizers on Yield, Nutrient Contents of Rice and Wheat Crops in Recently Reclaimed Saline Sodic Soil

Abstract

A field study was carried out at the Soil Salinity Research Institute's research farm in Pindi Bhattian in 2020–21 to assess the effects of using chemical and organic fertilizers together on rice and wheat yields, as well as the nutrient contents and characteristics of recently reclaimed saline sodic soil. The original characteristics of the field were ECe 8.50 dS m^-1, pHs 8.90 and gypsum requirement 4.12 tons acre-1. Using 100% of the required gypsum, this field was recovered. Application rates for six distinct organic manures were 20 t. ha^-1 + 75% R.D. of N P K. Merely 75% of the prescribed amount of NPK was administered in the control therapy. The manures that were used were wheat straw, sesbania green manure, press mud, FYM, poultry manure, and litter of eucalyptus leaves. The rice crop was treated with these manures one month prior to rice transplanting. Data showed that all of the manures enhanced rice yield in the paddy and straw compared to the control. Maximum yields of rice and straw were recorded in the applications of chicken manure, which was comparable to FYM and sesbania green manuring. This was followed by FYM, litter, press-mud, sesbania green manuring, wheat straw, and least in the control. All other manures remained non-significant with each other but significant over control, with the exception of P in poultry manure treated plots in straw, which stayed at par with press-mud treated plots. Maximum and considerably higher P contents were found in paddy and straw in press-mud treated plots. Plots treated with wheat straw had K levels that were both maximal and noticeably higher. Following rice crop harvest, soil tests showed that plots treated with poultry dung had lower maximum ECe. While press-mud sesbania treated plots showed a drop in maximum SAR, FYM remained at par with poultry manure. The press-mud treated plots had the highest P content in the soil, comparable to those treated with poultry manure, while the wheat straw treated plots showed the highest K content. The pH and total N levels were not statistically significant. In order to replicate the benefits of applied organic manures, wheat was grown in the same layout following the rice harvest. Wheat straw and grain yields were highest in residual poultry manure-applied plots; these yields were not significantly different from those of FYM-applied plots, which were followed by sesbania, wheat straw, and litter. Following wheat harvest, the soil's salinity and sodicity characteristics somewhat dropped while its fertility metrics slightly increased.