Effect of Gypsum on the Reclamation and

International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(12), pp. 429-434, 2014
Available online at http://www.ijsrpub.com/ijsres
ISSN: 2322-4983; ©2014; Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
http://dx.doi.org/10.12983/ijsres-2014-p0429-0434

Full Length Research Paper
Effect of Gypsum on the Reclamation and Soil Chemical Properties in Sodic Soils of
Raebareli District, Uttar Pradesh
Archana Singh1*, Jitendra Kumar Singh1,2
1

2

Institute of Environment & Development Studies, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi 284128, India
School of Environment and Sustainable Development, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, 382030, India
*Corresponding Author: Email: archanasingh416@gmail.com

Abstract. Soil sodicity is a significant environmental problem and has its negative impact on human health and agricultural
sustainability. So, the current research was set out to investigate the effectiveness of gypsum as an amendment which improves
the physical and chemical properties of soil and crop productivity. Experiment was conducted in a sodic soil at a farmer's field
in Raebareli district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The field was irrigated with moderately saline but highly brackish water. The

treatment of gypsum granule sizes (1–10 mm) were Control (No gypsum), Gypsum @ 100% GR in one splits and Gypsum @
100% GR in two splits. In the present study an attempt was made to find out the improvement of micronutrients and chemical
properties of soil in Gypsum amended soils. The effect of Gypsum application significantly improved the soil chemical
properties by reducing the EC and pH.
Keywords: Sodic soil, soil properties, reclamation, gypsum application.

reclamation of sodic soils and enhances crop
production (Rai et al., 2010; Singh et al., 2014).
Commonly, sodic and saline–sodic soils display
structural problems like slaking, swelling, dispersion
of clay, and surface crusting. Such problems may
impede water and air movement, decrease plant
available water, reduce nutrient availability, root
penetration and seedling emergence, and increase
runoff and erosion potential (Suarez, 2001; Qadir and
Schubert, 2002). Major part of Raebareli soils is sodic
and in these soils crop cultivation without any
modification, becomes very difficult. Maintaining and
restoring the quality of soil is one of the great
challenges of our time. Soil fertility is one of the vital

features controlling yields of the crops. Soil
characterization in relation to evaluation of fertility
status of the soils of an area or region is an vital aspect
in context of sustainable agriculture production. Soil
fertility changes and the nutrient balances are taken as
key indicators of soil quality (Jansen et al., 1995). Soil
is a vital natural resource which performs key role in
environment, economic and social functions. It is nonrenewable within human time scales. High quality
soils not only produce better food and fibre, but also
help establish natural ecosystems and enhance air and
water quality (Griffiths et al., 2010).
The objective of the present study was to assess the
effect of gypsum on the reclamation and improvement
of soil chemical properties in sodic soils of Raebareli,

1. INTRODUCTION
Increasing soil salinity and sodicity are serious
worldwide land degradation issues, and may be even
increase rapidly in the future (Wong et al., 2009). The
problem of salt affected soils is pronounced in the

many Indogangetic plains, arid and semiarid regions
of the world and increasingly threatening agricultural
expansion and productivity. It is estimated that 1.5
billion hectare of lands, all over the world, are saltaffected (Yuan et al., 2010). Salinity induced land
degradation is one of the major obstacles to
sustainable agricultural production in many arid and
semi-arid regions of the world (Bossio et al., 2007). In
India, about 6.9 million hectares of sodic soils are
found of which 1.63 million hectares occurs in Uttar
Pradesh only (Pandey et al., 2011) which is the largest
area found in any single state in the country. Only a
negligible portion of soils in UP is saline, the bulk
suffering from alkalinity, associated with excess of
available sodium, poor porosity, low nutrient content,
indifferent drainage and high water-table. The
excessive salt accumulation adversely affects soil
physical and chemical properties, as well as
microbiological processes (Lakhdar et al, 2009). The
addition of gypsum alone or combination with either
organic material or bioinaculants and effect of

conventional tillage has been investigated for

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Singh and Singh
Effect of Gypsum on the Reclamation and Soil Chemical Properties in Sodic Soils of Raebareli District, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh. In the present study an attempt was
made to find out the improvement of micronutrients
and chemical properties of soil in gypsum amended
soils.

of Raibareli district. The study area covered three
selected sites namely Jamunapur (control site),
Sawaya Dhani (site-I with Gyp @ 100 % GR One
split) and Shahabad, (site-II with Gyp @ 100 % GR
two split) villages (Figure 1). Climate is semi arid and
is characterized by average rainfall of 923 mm with
mean maximum and minimum temperature of 44.20C
and 2.30C, respectively. Loamy sand, sandy loam,

clay loam and silt loam soils are found in the district.
The selections of one control site i.e. without gypsum
application whereas another two sites i.e. site-I and
site-II are amendment with gypsum. Ground water is
the main source of irrigation (about 70%). The
principal crops grown in these areas are rice, wheat,
barley, and summer vegetables.

2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
2.1. Description of the study area
The district Raibareli is irregular in shape but fairly
compact. It forms a part of the Lucknow division of
Utter Pradesh state of India and lies between 25°49'
and 26°36' North latitude and 100°41' and 81°34' East
longitude. The field experiment was conducted in
2010–2011 and located in and around Unchahar block

Fig. 1: Location of the Raebareli district in Uttar Pradesh and the study areas

method, available potassium estimated by leaching the

soil with in ammonium acetate and the determination
of potassium by using flame photometer as per the
standard method, available nitrogen was estimated by
Kjeldhal method. Available micronutrients and heavy
metals were estimated as per procedure described by
Lindsay and Norwell (1978).

2.2. Sampling and Analysis
Soil samples were collected from the depth of 0-15 cm
from the two agricultural lands amended with gypsum
and one agricultural land without gypsum amended
served as control. Soil samples were air dried, ground
to pass through 2 mm sieve and stored in plastic bags
before analysis. The physicochemical properties as
well as different micronutrients of the gypsum
amended soil and also from control soil samples were
measured by standard methods. The soil pH was
estimated by pH metry in the saturation paste as
described by McNeal, 1982 (1:1 suspension). In the
same suspension electrical conductivity was also

measured using conductivity meter. Soil organic
carbon was estimated by Walkley–Black (1934),
available phosphorous was determined by Olsen’s

2.3. Statistical analysis
The study of correlation reduces the range of
uncertainty associated with decision making. The
correlation co-efficient 'r' was calculated using the
equation (Adak and Purohit, 2001).

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(12), pp. 429-434, 2014

Where, X and Y represents two different
parameters, N= Number of total observation
The interrelationship studies between different
variables are very helpful tools in promoting research
quality and opening new frontiers of knowledge.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3.1. Physicochemical characteristics and available
micronutrient level in sodic soil
The average results of the Gypsum amended soil
samples and control soil (without gypsum) were
analyzed for various physicochemical parameters
including micronutrients quantification are presented
in table 1 and matrix of correlation among different
parameters of soil are shown in tables 2, 3 and 4. The
improved quality of soil resources depends on the
management of the gypsum application.

Table 1: Soil chemical characteristics of the control site and reclaimed Site (I & II)
Soil
Properties
pH
EC
OC (%)
N (kg/ha)
P (kg/ha)

K (kg/ha)
S (kg/ha)
Fe (ppm)
Cu (ppm)
Zn (ppm)
Mn (ppm)

Control Site
Range
10.58-10.72
1.98-2.12
0.09-0.18
256.54-265.63
3.92-4.864
704.76-709.35
3.95-5.43
21.43-21.66
1.11-2.04
0.70-1.24
31.22-31.47

Mean
10.66±0.05
2.07±0.42
0.14±0.03
261.99±4.07
4.5±0.36
706.5±1.71
4.9±0.58
21.54±0.09
1.65±0.34
0.88±0.27
31.33±0.10

Gyp @ 100 % GR One split Site
I
Range
Mean
9.09-9.24
9.19±0.06

0.64-0.77
0.7±0.05
0.34-0.45
0.41±0.04
772.10-794.62
785.9±9.31
8.84-9.13
9±0.13
534.00-545.00
540±4.00
4.80-4.95
4.9±0.06
165.43-175.71
168.88±4.17
3.21-3.43
3.34±0.08
0.71-1.10
0.87±0.14
30.93-31.78
31.56±0.36

Gyp @ 100 % GR Two split Site
II
Range
Mean
8.80-9.15
9.00±0.15
0.50-0.83
0.68±0.12
0.16-0.32
0.25±0.06
465.73-476.83
471.97±4.39
26.12-27.38
27±0.51
482.76-498.43
495±6.85
9.50-10.20
9.8±0.25
50.50-62.12
56.33±4.26
2.93-3.55
3.3±0.24
1.58-1.83
1.7±0.11
26.23-27.10
26.54±0.34

The data represents the mean value of five replicates ± standard deviation.
Whereas, EC = Electrical conductivity, OC = Organic carbon, N = Available Nitrogen, P = Available Phosphorus, K= Available Potassium, S= Available
Sulphur, Fe= Iron, Cu= Copper, Zn= Zinc and Mn= Manganese.

site II respectively (Table – 1). Increased organic
carbon content was noted by the treatments with the
gypsum amendments in the site I and site II which is
the highly sodic soils. Increased organic carbon
content due to gypsum amendments in soil has also
been reported and thus helped to improve soil
structure.

3.2. Effect of gypsum on fertility status of soil after
harvesting wheat crops
3.2.1. pH and EC
Soil having more than 8.5 pH is indicating of soil
sodicity. PH and EC regulate most of the biological
processes and biochemical reactions. In present study,
highly sodic land control site soil the average pH
observed 10.66 and experimental site-I and site-II
having average pH 9.19 and 9.00 respectively (Table
– 1) after using gypsum and organic amendment. The
pH decrease in gypsum treated soil may be due to the
replacement of exchangeable Na + during Na+-Ca 2+
exchange and subsequent leaching. Reduction in sodic
soil electrical conductivity (EC) due to gypsum
amendments has also been reported by Rai et al.,
(2010). Electrical conductivity of control soil was
higher as compared to reclaimed soils, which is the
function of the ions present in soil.

3.2.3. Available-N, P, K, S and micronutrients
The data presented in table 1 indicated that the
application of gypsum significantly influenced the soil
available macronutrients such as N, P, K, S and
micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn). The saline sodic
soils have low to very low content of nitrogen and
phosphorus and high to very high content of available
K (Deshmukh, 2014). The results indicated that
considerable improved (increased) in soil available
nitrogen from 261.99 to 785.9 and 471.97 kg/ha.
Available phosphorous from 4.5 to 9.00 and
27.00kg/ha and sulphur content from 4.9 to 4.9 and
9.8kg/ha was observed in the gypsum treatment in site
I and site II. Whereas potassium in soil indicated that
remarkably reduction from 706.5 to 540.00 and
495.00kg/ha was found due to gypsum treatment in
site I and site II respectively. Availability of

3.2.2. Organic carbon
In the present investigation range of organic carbon
has been recorded 0.09 to 0.18% at control site, 0.34
to 0.45% and 0.16 to 0.32% were found in site I and

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Singh and Singh
Effect of Gypsum on the Reclamation and Soil Chemical Properties in Sodic Soils of Raebareli District, Uttar Pradesh

Micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) more or less also
improved due to gypsum application. The availability
of all nutrients in soil remarkably improved due to
application of gypsum was also observed by Akbari et
al. (2003).
3.3. Correlation among
parameters of Sodic Soil

chemical

and N (0.973), N and EC (0.905) in site II While the
high negatively correlated values were found between
S and K (-0.898), Cu and S (-0.899) in the site II.
The pH and EC are positively correlated with all
parameters except Zn in site I, S in site II whereas in
control site pH and EC is negatively correlated with
most of the parameters. Mn, Cu and Fe are positively
correlated with most of the parameters in all sites.
However, Organic carbon, N, P is positively
correlated with all parameters in control sites and
positively correlated with most of the parameters in
site I and site II.

quality

The high positively correlated values were found
between S and P (0.964), Cu and S (0.933) in control
site, N and PH (0.978), N and EC (0.939) in site I, Fe

Table 2: Correlation matrix for various physicochemical parameters of soil at control Site
pH
EC
OC
N
P
K
S
Fe
Cu
Zn
Mn

pH
1
-0.344
-0.272
-0.192
-0.016
0.440
-0.174
0.373
0.148
0.083
0.291

EC

OC

N

P

K

S

Fe

Cu

Zn

Mn

1
-0.568
-0.590
-0.009
-0.131
-0.085
-0.694
-0.203
-0.499
0.256

1
0.840
0.605
0.261
0.678
0.746
0.652
0.602
0.140

1
0.646
0.517
0.791
0.492
0.696
0.128
0.254

1
0.825
0.965**
0.461
0.975**
0.052
0.861

1
0.771
0.354
0.870
-0.221
0.894*

1
0.384
0.933*
-0.027
0.741

1
0.607
0.815
0.229

1
0.149
0.831

1
-0.206

1

Table 3: Correlation matrix for various physicochemical parameters of soil at Site-I
pH
EC
OC
N
P
K
S
Fe
Cu
Zn
Mn

pH
1
0.883*
0.292
0.978**
0.743
0.567
0.264
0.204
0.788
-0.677
0.954*

EC

OC

N

P

K

S

Fe

Cu

Zn

Mn

1
0.48
0.939*
0.427
0.247
0.363
0.049
0.589
-0.405
0.758

1
0.464
-0.194
0.159
-0.427
0.193
-0.301
-0.196
0.194

1
0.640
0.483
0.230
0.232
0.661
-0.602
0.895*

1
0.408
0.428
0.573
0.705
-0.433
0.703

1
0.403
-0.104
0.552
-0.983**
0.768

1
0.173
0.408
0.403
0.080

1
-0.164
0.159
0.038

1
-0.650
0.853

1
-0.854

1

Table 4: Correlation matrix for various physicochemical parameters of soil at Site-II
pH
EC
OC
N
P
K
S
Fe
Cu
Zn
Mn

pH
1
0.778
0.678
0.632
0.771
0.740
-0.492
0.492
0.310
0.008
0.716

EC

OC

N

P

K

S

Fe

Cu

Zn

Mn

1
0.465
0.905*
0.938*
0.809
-0.627
0.800
0.565
0.281
0.798

1
0.490
0.716
0.864
-0.739
0.513
0.731
-0.336
0.036

1
0.904*
0.766
-0.494
0.973**
0.621
-0.074
0.660

1
0.956
-0.792
0.855
0.783
0.096
0.567

1
-0.898*
0.745
0.868
0.034
0.347

1
-0.488
-0.899*
-0.310
-0.086

1
0.698
-0.205
0.482

1
0.014
-0.044

1
0.290

1

Where, EC = Electrical conductivity, OC = Organic carbon, N = Available Nitrogen, P = Available Phosphorus, K= Available Potassium, S = Available
Sulphur, Fe = Iron, Cu = Copper, Zn = Zinc and Mn = Manganese.
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(12), pp. 429-434, 2014

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4. CONCLUSIONS
In the present study, the experimental soil was
calcareous and saline-sodic with alkaline in reaction.
The effect of gypsum application significantly
improved the physiochemical properties of sodic soils
by reducing the EC and pH and improving crop
productivity yielded satisfactory results. Therefore,
gypsum application in split doses could be regarded as
effective and useful for the management of saltaffected soils. Gypsum application at 100% soil GR
with one split and two split, significantly increased the
yield of crop as well as chemical properties of the soil
as compared with control (without gypsum
application) soil. Therefore, it is recommended that
farmers apply the coarse gypsum (1–10 mm) at the
rate of 100% GR to reclaim sodic soil.
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Effect of Gypsum on the Reclamation and Soil Chemical Properties in Sodic Soils of Raebareli District, Uttar Pradesh

Archana Singh holds a M.Sc. in Biotechnology (2010) from the department of biotechnology,
Kanpur University. She received M.Phil. degree in Environment science from Bundelkhand
University, Jhansi, India in 2011. She is interested in the research on Reclamation of highly
calcareous saline-sodic soil in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Jitendra Kumar Singh is doing Ph.D. in the School of Environment and Sustainable Development
(SESD), Central University of Gujarat, India. He Completed his M.Phil. M.Sc. in Environment
Science from Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, India. He published more than 05 research papers
with national and International journal.

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