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Combined Effect of Organic Amendments and Seed Placement Techniques on Sorghum Yield Under Salt-Stressed Conditions

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Abstract

Salinity has become a major threat to the world’s fertile lands under prevailing scenario of climate change. Higher evapotranspiration rates led by increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation are aggravating this problem in the arid and semi-arid areas especially on saline lands, thereby negatively affecting crop growth and yield. Mitigating such adverse effects is necessary for ensuring global food security. The use of organic amendments like biochar (BC) and farmyard manure (FYM) which improve crop growth and yield needs further exploration. The present study aimed to evaluate the combined effects of organic amendments and seed placement techniques on Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench) growing in a saline-sodic soil (EC 8.2 dS m−1, SAR 22.4) of north western part of Pakistan. An experiment in a 4 × 3 factorial scheme was conducted in 2012, by growing Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench) with four treatments of organic amendments, i.e., control, FYM, BC, and FYM + BC, and three treatments of sowing techniques, i.e., sowing on ridges (RG), raised beds (RB), and flatbeds (FB). The results showed a significant decrease in the salinity indicators of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil with concomitant significant increase in total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents in RG-sown plots by the application of FYM + BC. Soil pH, however, remained stable under organic amendments across all sowing techniques. The application of FYM + BC resulted in the tallest (151 cm) plants with highest grain (320 kg ha−1) and dry biomass (25,225.0 kg ha−1) yields on RG-sown plots as compared to FB-sown plots which had the lowest grain yield (271 kg ha−1). Hence, it can be inferred that the combined application of FYM + BC to sorghum when sown by RG planting method could be an effective technique to mitigate salt stress and increase crop yield than the individual application of FYM and BC or seed sowing on RB or FB.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by The University of Agriculture Peshawar and Director of New Developmental Farm, The University of Agriculture Peshawar for providing biochar and FYM. The technical help in analyzing biochar samples and review of the research by the expert of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is duly appreciated. The facility provided by the University of Peshawar by allowing working in Azakhel Botanical Garden and utilizing their facilities are duly acknowledged.

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  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Attaullah Khan

  2. Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Attaullah Khan & Muhammad Jamal Khan

  3. Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), 6th Floor, Emigration Tower, 10-Mauve Area, G-8/1, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Aftab Ahmad Khan & Muhammad Ijaz

  4. Ministry of Energy (Power Division, National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, G-5/1, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Sher Shah Hassan

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Khan, A., Khan, A.A., Khan, M.J. et al. Combined Effect of Organic Amendments and Seed Placement Techniques on Sorghum Yield Under Salt-Stressed Conditions. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 22, 4752–4767 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-00957-y

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