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Résumé :
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Prolonged occupation of sodic soils by trees results in the latters' amelioration in terms of decreased pH and electrical conductivity and improved organic matter and fertility status. To assess whether sodic soils reclaimed by tree plantations can be used for growing agricultural crops, a greenhouse pot trial was conducted during winter of 1994-95 (November-April) at the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, India. Wheat (Triticum aestivum, L; cultivar HD 2329) and oat (Avena sativa, L. Cultivar local) plants were grown in topsoils (30 cm) collected from 24-year-old plantations of Prosopis juliflora, Acacia nilotica, Eucalpytus tereticornis, Terminalia arjuna and Albizia lebbek that had been established in 1970 on a highly sodic soil (pH(2) 10.2-10.5), and a reclaimed sodic soil from a farm field adjacent to the plantations. The organic carbon content and nutrient status of the soil under the 24-year-old plantations was much higher than that of a reference farm soil reclaimed through gypsum in 1974. Soil amelioration was highest under Prosopis canopies (pH 7.4 and organic carbon 0.89 per cent) in topsoil and minimum in Eucalytus canopies (pH 8.6 and organic carbon 0.56 per cent). Reduced sodicity and improved fertility resulted in much better growth reference and productivity of the wheat and oat test crops grown on the five plantation soils, than in the reference farm soil.
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