Effect of effective microorganism and gypsum amendments on nutrient leaching, pH, electrical conductivity, and Okra growth parameters under coastal saline soil

ABSTRACT

Nutrients losses through leaching are the main problem facing coastal saline soil. Effective microorganisms (EM) and Gypsum (G) at the application rate of 5%G and 10%G by weight were used as soil amendments. The pot experiment aimed to improve the leaching of nitrate (NO₃), ammonium (NH₄) and total nitrogen (TN) on the coastal saline soil. The EM+ 5%G treatment effectively reduced the content of NO₃ and NH₄ in the leachate by 86.59% and 68.18%, respectively. EM treatment reduced the leaching of NO₃ and NH₄ by 70.86% and 62.12% and EM+ 10%G reduced NO₃ and NH₄ by 11.80% and 50.76%, respectively. Moreover, the content of TN in leachate was reduced up to 13.23%, 5.80%, and 2.67% in response to EM, EM+ 5%G, and EM+ 10%G, respectively, compared to the control. These results indicate that EM combined with G as soil amendments can reduce leaching of nutrients and further support the regulation of a coastal saline soil pH and EC.

KEYWORDS:

• Coastal saline soil
• effective microorganisms
• electrical conductivity
• gypsum
• nutrients leaching
• soil ph

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge the financial support provided by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20161503), the National Natural Science Foundation of China through Grant No. 41471180, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015B14814), and by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).