Shabana Mahmoud M A, Elhawat Nevien, El-Aziz Mohamed A Abd, Elghany S H Abd, Badawy Asmaa F M, Alshaal Tarek
Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute (SWERI), Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12619, Egypt.
Institute of Applied Plant Biology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
Plants (Basel). 2025 May 29;14(11):1661. doi: 10.3390/plants14111661.
Soil salinity poses a significant challenge to agricultural productivity, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. This study explores the effect of compost, elemental sulfur (ES), sulfur nanoparticles (SNPs), and their combinations, i.e., compost + ES and compost + SNPs, to improve soil properties and maize productivity across a range of salinity levels (EC1 = 3.68, EC2 = 6.15, EC3 = 8.34, and EC4 = 12.18 dS/m). We hypothesized that integrating compost with ES or SNPs would enhance soil quality and maize performance more effectively than individual treatments. Results validated this hypothesis, showing that compost increased soil organic matter (SOM) by 1.33 times, reduced sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) by 33%, and boosted maize grain yield by 40% in moderately saline soils (6.15 dS/m). ES and SNPs lowered soil pH by 0.8-1.2 units and improved phosphorus availability by 25-30%. The compost-SNP combination delivered the most significant improvements, enhancing infiltration rate by 60%, total porosity by 15%, and straw yield by 50% in highly saline soils (12.18 dS/m). Additionally, plant height, cob length, and chlorophyll content increased by 20%, 22%, and 40%, respectively, with combined treatments. These findings highlight the efficacy of integrated amendments in alleviating salinity stress, offering a promising strategy for sustainable agriculture in saline environments.
土壤盐分对农业生产力构成重大挑战，在干旱和半干旱地区尤为如此。本研究探讨了堆肥、元素硫（ES）、硫纳米颗粒（SNP）及其组合，即堆肥+ES和堆肥+SNP，在一系列盐分水平（EC1 = 3.68、EC2 = 6.15、EC3 = 8.34和EC4 = 12.18 dS/m）下对改善土壤性质和玉米生产力的影响。我们假设将堆肥与ES或SNP结合使用比单独处理能更有效地提高土壤质量和玉米性能。结果验证了这一假设，表明在中度盐渍土壤（6.15 dS/m）中，堆肥使土壤有机质（SOM）增加了1.33倍，钠吸附率（SAR）降低了33%，玉米籽粒产量提高了40%。ES和SNP使土壤pH值降低了0.8 - 1.2个单位，有效磷含量提高了25 - 30%。堆肥与SNP的组合带来了最显著的改善，在高盐土壤（12.18 dS/m）中，入渗率提高了60%，总孔隙度提高了15%，秸秆产量提高了50%。此外，联合处理使株高、穗长和叶绿素含量分别增加了20%、22%和40%。这些发现突出了综合改良措施在缓解盐分胁迫方面的功效，为盐渍环境下的可持续农业提供了一个有前景的策略。
