article · Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
Soil salinity and sodicity severely restrict crop output in irrigated agro-pastoral areas of northeastern Ethiopia. To address this, field trials in the Asaita district tested integrated soil amendments combining filter cake compost, gypsum, and salt-tolerant forage species to improve maize and sorghum cultivation. The biological reclamation trials demonstrated that pairing Panicum antidotale with ten tonnes per hectare of filter cake compost achieved the highest yields, boosting maize output by 78 percent and sorghum output by 311 percent over untreated controls. A combination of ten tonnes per hectare of gypsum and ten tonnes per hectare of compost also delivered substantial yield increases. Sorghum showed greater overall resilience to saline and sodic conditions than maize. Economic assessments confirmed that integrating halophytic forage grasses with organic compost delivered the largest financial returns.
Saline and sodic soils limit farming viability and food security in arid and semi-arid agro-pastoral zones. Demonstrating that locally available inputs like filter cake compost, gypsum, and resilient forage crops can restore soil productivity provides practical, lower-cost management strategies. These interventions can protect farm incomes and raise cereal yields without requiring prohibitive land conversion investments.
The tested techniques offer an applied soil-management package ready for uptake by farmers, agricultural extension services, and agribusinesses in salt-affected river basins. Utilizing industrial by-products such as sugar mill filter cake compost alongside mineral gypsum and forage seed suppliers presents a clear input delivery model. Because the field trials achieved demonstrated economic gains in 2024 to 2025, the approach is near-market and suitable for immediate deployment.
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ABSTRACT Background Soil salinity and sodicity are major constraints to crop production in the irrigated agro‐pastoral systems of northeastern Ethiopia, particularly in the Asaita district of the Afar region. Aim This study evaluated the effectiveness of integrated organic and inorganic soil amendments for improving maize and sorghum production under saline–sodic soil conditions. Methods Field experiments were conducted during 2024–2025 using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with treatments consisting of different combinations of filter cake compost, gypsum, and salt‐tolerant forage species. Crop yield, yield components, biomass production, and economic returns were assessed to determine agronomic and economic performance. Results The results showed that the integrated application of compost and gypsum significantly improved crop productivity compared with the untreated control. In the biological reclamation trial, Panicum antidotale + 10 t ha −1 filter cake compost produced the highest maize grain yield (5.47 t ha −1 ) and sorghum grain yield (3.70 t ha −1 ), representing increases of 78% and 311%, respectively, over the control. Similarly, the combined application of 10 t ha −1 gypsum + 10 t ha −1 filter cake compost resulted in the highest grain yields of maize (5.00 t ha −1 ) and sorghum (3.70 t ha −1 ). Maximum above‐ground biomass yields were recorded under P. antidotale + compost treatments, reaching 11.50 t ha −1 for maize and 11.96 t ha −1 for sorghum. The highest net economic benefits were obtained from P. antidotale + 10 t ha −1 compost, yielding 35,230 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) ha −1 for maize and 39,720 ETB ha −1 for sorghum. Among the forage species evaluated, treatment effectiveness ranked as P. antidotale > Sesbania > Crotalaria > Alfalfa > Control. Sorghum consistently outperformed maize under saline–sodic conditions, confirming its greater salinity tolerance. Conclusion These findings demonstrate that integrating halophytic forage species with compost and gypsum provides an agronomically effective, economically viable, and sustainable strategy for reclaiming saline–sodic soils and enhancing cereal production in northeastern Ethiopia.
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DOI: 10.1002/jpln.70113
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