Sains Malaysiana 45(3)(2016): 339–346

Comparative Effects of Different Soil Conditioners on Wheat Growth and Yield Grown in Saline-sodic Soils

(Kesan Bandingan Penyubur Tanah Berbeza ke atas Tumbesaran Gandum dan Pengeluaran dalam Tanah Salin-sodik)

MUHAMMAD ZIA-UR-REHMAN¹, MUHAMMAD RIZWAN²*, MUHAMMAD SABIR¹, SHAHJAHAN¹, SHAFAQAT ALI² & HAMAAD RAZA AHMED¹

¹Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

²Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University

Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

Received: 03 June 2015/Accepted: 25 August 2015

ABSTRACT

Among abiotic stresses, salinity is the main abiotic stress limiting crop growth and yield worldwide. Improving agri-food production in salt-prone areas is the key to meet the increasing food demands in near future. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different soil conditioners, gypsum (GYP), citric acid (CA), ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in saline-sodic soil. Gypsum was applied at a rate of 100% soil gypsum requirement while other amendments were applied each at a rate of 5 g kg-1 of soil. The results showed that EDTA treatment increased pH and electrical conductivity (ECe) of soil while pH significantly decreased when treated with citric acid. Soil sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) decreased in all treatments following the order: CT > PVA > EDTA > CA > GYP. Addition of CA positively affected growth parameters as compared to other soil conditioners including plant height, number of tillers per plant, number of spikes per plant, plant dry weight and grain yield while EDTA negatively affected these parameters. Addition of CA also significantly increased photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and chlorophyll contents while EDTA decreased these parameters. We conclude that increase in plant growth and yield with CA might be due to the effect of CA on soil properties which positively affected plant physiological parameters.

Keywords: Biomass; photosynthesis; salinity; soil amendments; wheat

ABSTRAK

Antara tekanan abiotik, kemasinan ialah tekanan abiotik utama yang menghadkan pertumbuhan tanaman dan hasil di seluruh dunia. Meningkatkan pengeluaran makanan pertanian di kawasan terdedah garam adalah kunci untuk memenuhi permintaan makanan yang semakin meningkat pada masa hadapan. Percubaan rumah hijau telah dijalankan untuk mengkaji kesan berbeza penyubur tanah, Gipsum (GYP), asid sitrik (CA), asid tetraasetik diamina etilena (EDTA) dan alkohol polivinil (PVA) ke atas pertumbuhan dan hasil gandum (Triticum aestivum L.) yang ditanam di tanah salin sodic. Gipsum diaplikasikan pada kadar 100% di tanah keperluan Gipsum manakala pindaan lain digunakan masing-masing pada kadar 5 g kg-1 tanah. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa rawatan EDTA meningkatkan pH dan pengaliran elektrik (ECe) tanah manakala pH ketara berkurangan apabila dirawat dengan asid sitrik. Nisbah penjerapan tanah sodium (SAR) dan peratus sodium boleh tukar (ESP) menurun pada semua rawatan diikuti aturan berikut: CT > PVA > EDTA > CA > GYP. Penambahan CA mempengaruhi parameter pertumbuhan secara positif jika dibandingkan dengan penyubur tanah lain termasuk ketinggian tumbuhan, bilangan tiler setiap pokok, bilangan pancang setiap pokok, berat kering tanaman dan hasil bijirin manakala EDTA mempengaruhi parameter pertumbuhan ini secara negatif. Penambahan CA turut meningkatkan kadar fotosintetik, penggunaan stomatal, kadar transpirasi dan kandungan klorofil manakala EDTA menurunkan parameter ini. Kami menyimpulkan bahawa peningkatan dalam pertumbuhan tumbuhan dan hasil dengan CA mungkin disebabkan oleh kesan CA terhadap sifat tanah yang mempengaruhi parameter fisiologi pertumbuhan secara positif.

Kata kunci: Biojisim; fotosintesis; gandum; kemasinan; pindaan tanah

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*Corresponding author; email: mrazi1532@yahoo.com