Development of Eco-friendly Technology for the Management of Dry Land Saline Soil

Abstract

To develop an eco-friendly and economically viable biological technology to alleviate dry land salinity, an incubation experiment was carried out at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 2021-22 in saline soils with varied EC values viz., 4, 5 and 6 dS m-1 collected from Adivalli village of Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu. The soils were treated with microbial cultures developed from both TNAU (Bacillus subtilus) and CSSRI (CSR-GROW-SURE bio-stimulant which consists of CSR-M-16 (Bacillus licheniformis), CSR-A-11 (Lysnibacillus fusiformis), CSR-A-16 (Lysinibacillus sphaericus)) at different rates namely 1, 2 and 3 L ha-1 under two varied moisture regimes this is 75% and 100% field capacity. The results of the study showed that application of irrespective of microbial cultures (CSSRI / TNAU) and moisture regimes (75% /100% field capacity) were effective in reducing the soil EC and SAR. The CSR-GROW-SURE at 3 L ha-1 had reduced the salinity to the tune of 7 to 9 % and SAR from 26 to 27 % and it was on par with TNAU culture at 3 L ha-1 which also reduced the EC from 6 to 9 % and SAR between 25 and 26 % after 90 days of incubation. The results of both the moisture regimes namely 75% and 100% FC were comparable but a little higher effect was pronounced at 100% FC.