Prosopis juliflora and Vachellia nilotica: Boon for Salt-affected Land and Livelihood Security-A Review

Not AvailableTree species Prosopis juliflora and Vachellia nilotica are nitrogen fixers besides important source of biomass production on degraded salt-affected lands. These are remarkably well adapted to the saline areas through natural selection and traditional breeding. These trees are playing a vital role as a source of fuel, small timber, wood and fodder (dry season) for sustaining the livelihoods of the arid and semi-arid area. Thus, genetic improvement of these trees can be potential alternative for restoring soil health for salt- affected soils for further yield improvement by using conventional and modern approaches.Not Availabl

Managing Saline Soils of Indo-Gangetic Plains with Eucalyptus and Melia based Agroforestry Systems

Not AvailableSalinity is a common problem in irrigated agriculture and abandoned degraded areas. Agroforestry practices on abandoned lands could be the viable option to use saline lands for productive services with soil amelioration benefits. Therefore, an experiment was conducted in ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana for managing the saline soils with Eucalyptus and Melia based agroforestry systems. Three irrigation regimes viz. (i) I1- saline and normal water in cyclic mode, (ii) I2- best available water combined with need based saline irrigation, & (iii) I3-control (rainfed conditions) and two landuses (LU) of (i) (LU1) tree (Eucalyptus tereticornis and Melia composita) + crop (mustard and pearlmillet), and (ii) (LU2) sole agronomical crops in open conditions. Both the systems studied independently and the results clearly indicate that both the systems adapted well in saline soils with saline irrigation. The best available water with need based saline irrigation (I2) outperformed than the rest of the irrigation regimes in terms of establishment, growth of trees and companion crops and soil reclamation. Best available water combined with need based saline irrigation+trees+crops (I2+LU1) treatment combination observed to be the best in both the developed agroforestry systems. Germination and yield of mustard and peralmillet found to decrease with the increase in the salinity levels. For better mustard germination, the EC value should be at below 6.0 dS/m in field conditions. The EC (electrical conductivity) and pH values of soil found to decrease from its initial levels under the influence of irrigation with good quality water and tree+crop landuse which indicate the reclamation of saline soils. The synergistic effect of trees and intercrops on saline soils will certainly improve the biological productivity of saline soils. Such developed agroforestry systems in saline soils of Indo-Gangetic plains are the best option to manage saline soils on economical and ecological security mode.Not Availabl

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The present study was conducted to assess the effect of water deficit coupled with salt stress on physiological traits and stress tolerance mechanisms of rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties differing in salt tolerance. Two salt tolerant (CSR 10 and CSR 36) and two salt sensitive (IR 29 and Pusa 44) rice varieties were evaluated in different combinations of controlled water deficit coupled with salt stress conditions. The salt tolerant variety CSR 10 has shown the best morphological or phenological growth performance; while IR 29 performed the worst in terms of reduction in growth at 25 and 50% water deficit. At 50 and 100 mM NaCl along with 50% water deficit, 80% plants of IR 29 could not survive. Variety CSR 10 exhibited maintenance of higher total chlorophyll concentration (ChlT), relative water content (RWC), gas exchange characteristics and chlorophyll fluorescence attributes with lower membrane injury (MI) and thus ultimately showed better stress tolerance than other varieties

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