Relative efficiency of amendments for reclamation of sodic Vertisols and their effects on crop production

Abstract

Reclamation of sodic Vertisols for crop production is of prime importance in view of the ever-increasing demand of food and other commodities. Among the amendments gypsum is the cheapest and most convenient source used for reclamation of sodic soils but now availability of mined gypsum is very limited. Distillery spent wash (DSW) may be used as an alternate to gypsum as it contains huge amount of calcium and magnesium and high organic carbon. The present investigation was undertaken to compare the effect of DSW, gypsum, vermicompost and FYM in sodic Vertisols under rice-wheat cropping system. The plant height, effective tillers, length of penicle/ ear head, and grain and straw yield of paddy and wheat increased significantly over control with the application of spent wash @ 0.5 million L ha-1. The application of spent wash @ 0.5 million L ha-1 increased the grain yield of paddy by 43.8 and 39.7 and wheat by 44.7 and 85.2 percent over control during 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively. The uptake of Ca, Mg and K was increased while Na uptake was reduced in rice and wheat because of DSW application. The ESP of the soil was reduced from initial 38.8 to 17.1 after two years of DSW application. Organic carbon, available nitrogen and potassium status was also improved with the application of 0.5 million L ha-1 spent wash.