Irrigated barley-grass pea crop mixtures can revive soil microbial activities and alleviate salinity in desertic conditions of southern Morocco.

ABSTRACT: Soil salinity adversely limits crop and soil health, and this can be reversed by cropping systems where species exclude salts and activate microbial nutrient cycling. A randomized complete block design experiment was established in Laayoune-Morocco to evaluate the influence of irrigated grass pea and barley monocrops or combined together in 50-50% and 70-30% mixtures against soil salinity and CO₂-C flux in sites with varying salinity. Site by treatment interaction significantly influenced (p < 0.05) soil salinity and CO₂-C flux. Salinity reduced by 37 to 68 dS m^-1 in highly saline soils across season regardless of treatment and barley monocrop retained the least salinity (15 dS m^-1). Same applied to sites with low (1 to 2 dS m^-1) and m

SUBMITTER: Ashilenje DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10425461 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature