In order to study the effect of salts stress on the growth and yield of wheat (cv. Inqalab), a pot experiment was conducted in the wire-house of the Department of Soil Science, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam. The soil was artificially salinized to a range of salinity levels i.e. EC 2.16, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 dS•m −1 with different salts (MgCl 2 + CaCl 2 + Na 2 SO 4). The salinized soil used for the experiment was sandy clay in texture, alkaline in reaction (pH > 7.0) and moderate in organic matter (0.95%) content. The results showed that with increasing salinity there was an increase in the ECe, Na + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and Cl − and decrease in the K + , SAR and ESP values of the soil Increasing salinity, progressively decreased plant height, spike length, number of spikelets spike −1 1000 grain weight and yield (straw and grain). Adverse effects of salts on plants were associated with the accumulation of less K + and more Na + and Cl − in their flag leaf sap, grains and straw. This resulted in lower K + :5Na + ratio in flag leaf sap, grains and straw of wheat plants. These results indicated that the effects of salts stress were greater at 10 than at 8, 6 and 4 EC dS•m −1 .

Desert soil is one of the most severe conditions which negatively affect the environment and crop growth production in arid land. The application of organic amendments with inorganic fertilizers is an economically viable and environmentally comprehensive method to develop sustainable agriculture. The aim of this study was to assess whether milk tea waste (TW) amendment combined with chemical fertilizer (F) application can be used to improve the biochemical properties of sandy soil and wheat growth. The treatments included control without amendment (T1), chemical fertilizers (T2), TW 2.5% + F (T3), TW 5% + F (T4) and TW 10% + F (T5). The results showed that the highest chlorophyll (a and b) and carotenoids, shoot and root dry biomass, and leaf area index (LAI) were significantly (p < 0.05) improved with all amendment treatments. However, the highest root total length, root surface area, root volume and diameter were recorded for T4 among all treatments. The greater uptake of N, P, and K contents for T4 increased for the shoot by 68.9, 58.3, and 57.1%, and for the root by 65.7, 34.3, and 47.4% compared to the control, respectively. Compared with the control, T5 treatment decreased the soil pH significantly (p < 0.05) and increased soil enzyme activities such as urease (95.2%), β-glucosidase (81.6%) and dehydrogenase (97.2%), followed by T4, T3, and T2. Our findings suggested that the integrated use of milk tea waste and chemical fertilizers is a suitable amendment method for improving the growth and soil fertility status of sandy soils.

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Core Ideas Salinity and drought are the major issues confronting agriculture in arid regions of the world. Guar is a multipurpose drought‐ and salt‐tolerant crop that has the potential to improve farm revenue in arid regions. Guar accessions vary in their salt tolerance and there is a strong need for developing information on accessions appropriate for elevated salinity. Results of this study provide information on accessions appropriate for saline arid regions. Growers in the arid regions of the world constantly face freshwater scarcity and salinity. It is essential to develop information on crops that can tolerate water and salinity stress for ensuring long‐term viability of agriculture in these extreme environments. Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) is a multipurpose crop mainly grown in arid regions of south Asia and the United States is a major importer of this crop. If guar can be produced on saline soils in the arid west, it can improve farm income of local growers. This controlled environment study evaluated germination, physiological response, seedling growth parameters, and ions uptake of 15 guar accessions under different salinity (0.9‐control, 4.5 and 9.0 dS m−1). Results indicated that while one accession (PI 268229) recorded 100% germination at 9.0 dS m−1, two accessions (PI164476 and PI 43359) showed 100% germination at 4.5 dS m−1. Across all accessions the chlorophyll content and assimilation of CO2 decreased as salinity level of irrigation water increased, but the chlorophyll fluorescence (Chl F) remained higher at all three salinity levels. Accession PI 549164 had maximum leaf area and shoot biomass (OD weight) at 9.0 dS m−1. Although the Na and Cl contents increased, K content and K/Na ratio decreased in all accessions with increasing salinity. This could indicate that selective ion uptake to be the dominant salinity tolerance mechanisms in early stages of guar.

In recent years, many studies have been devoted to investigating consequence of wastewater usage in irrigation. Herein, assessment of wastewater irrigated rice crop (selected rice cultivars such as, Shandar, Shua-92 and Sarshar) irrigated water and cultivating soil samples of Tandojam, Hyderabad city and its vicinity were selected for analysis. In this study, pH, EC, Na + , K + and Clions were observed for wastewater, irrigated rice cultivars and soil, and compared with canal water irrigated rice cultivars and soil. The application of wastewater resulted an increase in Na + , K + and Clconcentration in rice cultivars tissues as compared to canal water rice cultivar. The obtained results have shown that wastewater is not suitable for edible crops like, rice irrigation, due to high alkaline pH, EC value, and higher K + , Na + and Clions concentration in this water.