Success reported in reclamation trials of saline-sodic soils in Oman

Success reported in reclamation trials of saline-sodic soils in Oman

Muscat: Phases 1 and 2 of a research on using special fertilizers for the reclamation of saline-sodic soils in Oman with the aim of finding viable solutions to address soil salinity across the Governorate of South Al Batinah succeeded.

The research was conducted by Oman Shell, Shell Agriculture and Forestry and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).

Oman Shell in collaboration with SQU, carried out a research between 2020 and 2022, to study how effective Special-S (a sulphur fertilizer produced using Shell Thiogro technology) is in remediating saline-sodic soils through soil acidification.

In Phase 1 of the research, incubation trials and column experiments were performed with Special-S on decreasing soil pH (measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the soil), and salt leaching was carried out on five different types of soil collected from different Omani farms.

Special-S showed significant acidification of the soil, and was effective in salt leaching, doubling salts leached as compared to control.

Field trials were carried out to evaluate the response of plants to this amendment. With the application of Special-S, there was a 13% increase in yield of Rhodes grass and 59% increase in yield of wheat. The calcium and phosphorous uptake by Rhodes grass plants were 75% and 14% higher