Effect of soil amendments and varied soil texture on wheat growth, physiology, and nutrient accumulation at different salinity: sodicity levels

The optimum and suitable amelioration of saline-sodic and sodic soils is one of the greatest challenges in sustaining global agriculture and future food security. Although the application of amendments for soil reclamation has been practiced for decades, the impacts pertaining to different salinity: sodicity levels of soils have not been investigated and quantified for the reclamation of native salt-affected soils. Furthermore, it is undefined to what extent the commonly used amendments can improve the physiology and ionic characteristics of wheat at variable salinity-sodicity stress. The current study investigated the effect of farm manure, gypsum, and sulphuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) during soil reclamation on wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) growth, physiology, and nutrient status at different salinity: sodicity levels. For this purpose, wheat was grown at various soil salinity: sodicity levels viz. 5:08, 10:16, 15:24, and 20:32 that were developed in sandy clay loam and clay loam soils separately and treated with the aforementioned amendments individually. The results revealed that irrespective of the soil texture at higher salinity: sodicity level (20:32), H 2 SO 4 amendment caused a 9%, 5%, 9%, 4%, 13%, 13%, 4%, and 16% increase in photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, total chlorophyll contents, biological and grain yield, and N and K contents in comparison with gypsum, respectively. In clay loam soil, the gypsum was more effective in increasing wheat grain yield than H 2 SO 4 , whereas in sandy clay loam soil, the yield produced with both amendments was similar. Comparatively, gypsum showed better performance in improving soil characteristics among all the treatments, i.e., about 21% and 38% decrease in EC e and SAR, respectively, compared to control, whereas a significant role of H 2 SO 4 was observed in decreasing SAR (about 42% decrease compared to control) at level 20:32. This experiment suggests gypsum application to wheat cultivation under different levels of salinity: sodicity is a wise option because it not only effectively mitigated the saline-sodic stress but also improves the quality and physiological activity of wheat.