Salt‐tolerant forage cultivation on a saline‐sodic field for biomass production and soil reclamation

Chemical reclamation of sodic and saline‐sodic soils has become cost‐intensive. Cultivation of plants tolerant of salinity and sodicity may mobilize the CaCO3 present in saline‐sodic soils instead of using a chemical approach. Four forage plant species, sesbania (Sesbania aculeata), kallar grass (Leptochloa fusca), millet rice (Echinochloa colona) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana), were planted in a calcareous saline‐sodic field (ECe = 9·6–11·0 dS m−1, SAR = 59·4–72·4). Other treatments included gypsum (equivalent to 100 per cent of the gypsum requirement of the 15 cm soil layer) and a control (no gypsum or crop). The crops were grown for 5 months. The performance of the treatments in terms of soil amelioration was in the order: Sesbania aculeata ≅ gypsum > Leptochloa fusca > Echinochloa colona > Elusine coracana > control. Biomass production by the plant species was found to be directly proportional to their reclamation efficiency. Sesbania aculeata produced 32·3 Mg forage ha−1, followed by Leptochloa fusca (24·6 Mg ha−1), Echinochloa colona (22·6 Mg ha−1) and Eleusine coracana (5·4 Mg ha−1). Sesbania aculeata emerged as the most suitable biotic material for cultivation on salt‐affected soils to produce good‐quality forage, and to reduce soil salination and sodication processes.