RECLAMATION OF PROBLEMATIC SOIL THROUGH TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS AND AFFORESTATION WITH SUITABLE TREE SPECIES
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Date
2017-07-14
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UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU
Abstract
Land degradation due to sodicity continues to be a serious impediment to the
maintenance of sustainable and profitable land use systems in arid and semi-arid regions.
With this background, a study was carried out at V. C. Farm, Mandya, Karnataka to
reclaim the sodic soil through suitable technological interventions viz., application of
gypsum, FYM and cross trenches as well as by identifying suitable tree species, where
the soil was sodic with pH 8.69, EC 0.96 (dSm-1), OC 0.27 % and ESP of 25.57 %,
respectively. Based on the socio-economic benefits and local utility, one year old healthy
seedlings of eight tree species, Viz., Syzygium jambolana, Grevillea robusta, Melia dubia,
Simarouba glauca, Pongamia pinnata, Terminalia catappa, Syzygium cumini and
Terminalia arjuna were selected. Observations on plant height, collar diameter, root
length, number of secondary roots and total dry matter were recorded at periodic intervals
till 180 days after planting. Per cent increase in plant height over control was highest in
Syzygium jambolana (26.89 %) followed by Terminalia catappa (23.29 %) and collar
diameter was highest in Terminalia catappa (17.33 %), Syzygium cumini (12.70 %)
further, the total dry matter was highest in Melia dubia (44.73 %) and Syzygium cumini
(37.84 %), and Melia dubia showed highest survival rate (23.97 %) over control.
Chemical properties of soil was also improved with pH 8.22, EC 0.68 dSm-1, OC 0.50 %
and ESP 11.68 % at 180 DAP compare to control. In the present investigation, Syzygium
cumini, Pongamia pinnata and Syzygium jambolana performed better.
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