Nutrient content of Indian spinach in saline soil as affected by different organic manures

The study was carried out to assess the effects of commercial manure and poultry manure on the growth and nutrient content of Indian spinach (Basella alba) grown in saline soil. To quantify these effects, we added commercial manure (CM), poultry manure (PM) and a combination of CM and PM at 10 ton/ha rate. Hence, there were 4 different treatments viz. control (T1) where no manure was added, CM (T2), PM (T3) and CM+PM (T4). Results indicated that organic manure additions to soil increased all the vegetative growth parameters expressed as fresh weight, leaf number, shoot and root length. In addition, concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Fe and Mn in all parts of plants increased 2–3 folds over the control irrespective of organic amendments. The increased growth and nutrient content of plant suggest the positive effects of organic manures in amelioration of saline soils by enhancing soil fertility through the release of essential macro and micro elements.