AICRP on Management of Salt-affected Soils and Use of Saline Water in Agriculture, Agricultural Research Station, Gangawati, Karnatka, 583227.
*Corresponding author.
Present address: †Rice-wheat Consortium, DPS Marg, NASC, New Delhi 110012.
A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Gangawati, Karnataka to study the effect of tree species alone or in combination with grasses on physical properties of a saline soil. Six tree species viz. Casuarina equisetifolia, Acacia nilotica, Dalbergia sissoo, Azadirachta indica, Sesbania grandiflora and Hardwickia binnata and napier grass were planted in 1991 and physical properties were determined during 1995–96. Due to the improvement in soil organic carbon, physical characteristics such as porosity, infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity and aggregate stabi1ity improved under different tree covers while, bulk density and erodibility of soil decreased. Acacia nilotica and Casuarina equisetifolia had higher influence on these bio-physical properties than the other species. Grasses when planted with trees had complementary effect.
Saline soils, tree species, aggregation, soil structure, erodibilty, biophysical properties
