Effect of Nitrogen Levels on Yield of and Nutrient Uptake by Salt-tolerant Rice and Wheat Cultivars in Gypsum-amended Sodic Soils

The effect of nitrogen levels on yield of and nutrient uptake by salt-tolerant rice and wheat cultivars in a gypsum-amended sodic soil of Uttar Pradesh was studied at the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Regional Research station, Lucknow. The promising results reveal that the salt-tolerant rice variety CSR 13 gave 75.5% and 116.0% higher grain yield over traditional salt-tolerant variety Bejhari with 120 and 150 kg N ha⁻¹, respectively. Similarly salt-tolerant variety of wheat KRL 19 gave 13.0% higher grain yield over KRL 1–4 with 150 kg N ha⁻¹. Maximum agronomic response was found in CSR 13 with 120 kg N ha⁻¹ and it decreased with the increase in N level but in traditional variety Bejhari response to N reduced drastically with the increasing levels of N. In wheat, both the varieties responded with increasing levels of N up to 120 kg ha⁻¹. Maximum net return and benefit:cost ratio was obtained from salt-tolerant rice (CSR 13) and wheat (KRL 19) cultivars grown with 150 kg N ha⁻¹.