Influence of gypsum on moisture availability and various soil parameters in vertisols under soybean gram sequence

Application of gypsum affected moisture use by soybean and gram. Moisture use efficiency (MUE) of soybean significantly increased with increasing level of gypsum. Higher MUE was recorded with 3 t gypsum ha⁻¹ however, 1.5 t gypsum ha⁻¹ was enough to significantly increase MUE over control. Increasing levels of gypsum also increased MUE of gram as wall as physical and chemical properties of soil. However, 1.5 t gypsum ha⁻¹ was sufficient to maintain enough electrolyte concentration to increase hydraulic conductivity. Application of gypsum increased exchangeable Ca²⁺ and Ca/Mg ratio in the soil and, reduced water dispersible clay, exchangeable Na⁺, Exchangeable Sodium Percentage (ESP) of soil, which had favourable impact on hydraulic conductivity. Increasing levels of gypsum also increased the availability of nitrogen (N). Gypsum @ 1.5 t ha⁻¹ was enough to increase the yield of soybean significantly over control. Increasing level of gypsum increased the yield of gram linearly.