Strategies for Soil Rehabilitation and Yield Improvement under Saline Irrigation Water Conditions: The Role of Combining Soil amendments and Compost Tea

Irrigation water salinity has led to significant soil degradation and reduced agricultural yields. This research aimed to identify effective strategies to alleviate these impacts by reducing soil degradation. A field experiment was conducted on maize, utilizing phosphogypsum, vermicompost, algae extract, and compost tea as treatments. The experiment followed a split-plot design with three replications. Appling vermicompost, biofertilizer (algae extract), and phosphogypsum, alone or in combination with compost tea, resulted in a moderate increase in soil organic carbon and cation exchange capacity. More notably, these treatments significantly enhanced the 100-grain weight, straw yield, and grain yield of maize. Additionally, soil bulk density decreased across treatments. The most effective treatment involved the use of a combination of half doses of vermicompost, phosphogypsum, and algae extract with compost tea, which significantly reduced soil electrical conductivity (EC), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), and bulk density (BD). Furthermore, this treatment improved soil porosity, soil penetration resistance (SPRa), and basic soil infiltration rate (IR). The findings suggest that the integration of organic amendments with compost tea in saline irrigation conditions positively impacts both soil quality and maize yield, offering a promising approach to managing saline irrigation in agricultural systems.