Division of Technology Evaluation and Transfer, Central Soil salinity Research institute, Karnal-132001, India.
Effective alkali land reclamation technology is available for rehabilitation and sustainable management of salt affected lands. The sodic lands can be reclaimed successfully in a short period of 3 years at a cost of Rs 35000 per ha, out of that the highest share is required for purchase of soil amendment gypsum. In addition to initial reclamation cost, an annual operational cost Rs 18000 and Rs 15000 are also required for rice and wheat cultivation, respectively. At the very first year of the reclamation, 40 qt rice and 20 qt wheat can be harvested per ha which increased to 50 qt rice and 30 qt wheat in the third year onwards. Thus, the total investment made for sodic land reclamation could be received back by the farmers with in a period of 3 years in terms of crop yield. The net present worth estimated Rs 85000 per ha during a period of 10 years of land reclamation, benefit-cost ratio 1.48 and internal rate of return 21.40 per cent. It is obious from the study that the alkali land reclamation technology is technically viable and economically profitable and is capable to provide normal crop production from the problematic land.
