Paper Details

PJB-2023-84

Mitigation of salinity stress with compost, biochar, and pressmud in cluster bean crop production

Shahzad Ahmad Junaid, Muqarrab Ali, Hina Ashraf, Syeda Refat Sultana, Hafeez Ullah, Rahmat Ullah Shah, Khalid Bilal and Muhammad Mazhar Iqbal
Abstract

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Salt stress has an adverse impact on the growth and development of plants. The harmful effects of salt stress differ depending on factors such as duration, severity, timing, the type of plant tissues involved, and the growth stage of the plant. Cluster bean is recognized as one of the most significant industrial crops worldwide, owing to its extensive application in various food and non-food products. The cluster bean crop is somewhat tolerant of salinity stress. But by improving the soil environment by application of organic amendment, improved growth and yield of better cluster bean crops can be achieved. The present greenhouse experiment was carried out to assess the effects of organic amendments (control, biochar, compost, and pressmud) on the yield of four cluster bean genotypes (BR-2017, S-5885, S-6165, and S-6547) in a saline environment with an electrical conductivity of 8 dSm^-1.The salinity of 8 dSm^-1 was developed with NaCl salt in the pot. The experiment was replicated thrice within a Completed Randomized Design (CRD). The application of organic amendments helped to ameliorate the salinity effect. The plant showed better growth where organic amendments over control were no organic amendment was applied. The control exhibited higher sodium levels in both the leaf and root, while lower potassium levels were also observed in the control. Consequently, the sodium-potassium ratio was elevated in control compared to the plots treated with organic amendments. In BR-2017, the application of biochar, compost, and pressmud resulted in sodium contents in the leaf that were 24.3%, 42.1%, and 9.3% lower, respectively, when compared to the control. Among the cultivars, S-6165 displayed higher sodium levels in the root than the other cultivars (BR-2017, S-5885, and S-6547) across all treatments (Control, biochar, compost, and pressmud). Organic amendments can be a helpful option to improve the soil environment for better growth of cluster beans in saline conditions. However, long-term field studies are recommended to revalidate the findings.

To Cite this article: Junaid, S.A., M. Ali, H. Ashraf, S.R. Sultana, H. Ullah, R.U. Shah, K. Bilal and M.M. Iqbal. 2026. Mitigation of salinity stress with compost, biochar, and pressmud in cluster bean crop production. Pak. J. Bot., 58(5): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2026-5(3)  
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