University of Tehran Desert 2008-0875 18 1 2013 01 01 Improving Soil Physical Indicators by Soil Amendment to a Saline-Sodic Soil 73 78 36277 10.22059/jdesert.2013.36277 EN M. Khotabaei Soil Science Department, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran H. Emami Soil Science Department, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran A. R. Astaraei Soil Science Department, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran A. Fotovat Soil Science Department, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Journal Article 2013 02 25 The application of organic amendments can be an appropriate solution to reclaim and improve physical properties<br />of saline-sodic soils. In this research, an experiment was performed under greenhouse conditions to study the effect of<br />amendments to the physical properties of loamy saline-sodic soil. The five treatments were control (without<br />amendment), municipal solid waste compost (MC), vermicomposting (VC), poultry manure (PM), and gypsum<br />powder (G). They were carried out in a completely randomized design with three replications. Each treatment<br />comprised 10 ton/ha of the specified soil added to the soil. The results showed that soil amendments decreased bulk<br />density (p<0.05) and increased mean weight diameter of aggregates (MWD) (p<0.05) over the control. The saturated<br />hydraulic conductivity (Ks) for the G treatment was significantly higher than other treatments (p<0.05). The addition<br />of amendments significantly increased the Sgi index, which is defined as the slope of the retention curve at its<br />inflection point, but the Sgi index between the G and MC treatments was not significant (p<0.05). In addition, plant<br />available water content (PAWC) increased significantly (p<0.05) for organic amendments over the G and control<br />treatments, and a maximum value was observed for the PM treatment. The positive effects of the amendments<br />showed that the application of organic and/or inorganic amendments can be recommended for saline-sodic soil to<br />improve soil physical quality. https://jdesert.ut.ac.ir/article_36277_6194cc65368b15f4fc99ff82580362d9.pdf