SODICITY TOLERANCE OF FENUGREEK (TRIGONELLA FOENUM GRAECUM L.) AS INFLUENCED BY APPLICATION OF ZINC AND VERMICOMPOST

A pot experiment was conducted with fenugreek as test crop in rabi season at 2008-09 to evaluate the effect of different levels of RSC waters viz., 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 mmoL(-1), zinc viz., 0, 10 and 20 mg kg(-1) with and without vermicompost on soil properties, yield of seed and sodicity tolerance of fenugreek. With increasing level of RSC, ECe, OC and DTPA-Zn decreased significantly while, pH and ESP of soil increased significantly. Seed yield decreased significantly with increasing level of RSC and maximum reduction was observed with 7.5 mmol L-1. The Na/K, Na+K/Ca and Na/Ca ratios increased while, Ca/Mg ratio decreased significantly in seed. Application of zinc and vermicompsot significantly increased the seed yield, soil DTPA-Zn and organic carbon while, Na/K, Na+K/Ca and Na/Ca ratios in seed decreased significantly, however, the Ca/Mg ratio increased significantly.