Some Microbiological Studies in Salt-Affected Soils—II. Effect of Gypsum and Mulch on Selected Soil Microflora and Evolution of Carbon dioxide

Population of total bacteria, Azotobacter, Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter considerably increased due to application of gypsum and mulch either alone or in combination in saline-alkali soil but these increases were more pronounced when both the amendments were added to the salt-affected soil. Magnitude of microbial population was also affected by the stages of crop growth. Maximum bacterial population was noticed at earing stage while minimum at the harvesting. CO₂ evolution was greater at higher bacterial count and showed a positive correlation with the latter (r = 0.9085).