EFFECT OF GYPSUM AND SULPHUR APPLICATION IN AMELIORATION OF SALINE SOIL AND ENHANCING RICE PRODUCTIVITY

Abstractstudying the effect of applying gypsum and sulphur to counteract the soil salinity hazardous on vegetative growth, yield and quality of rice plants (oriza sativa l.,cv. sakha 101) grown on a saline-sodic soil at (sahl el-tina, village 4, gilbana, north sinai govemorate) irrigated with low water quality of el-salam canal was the main objective of the current study. to fulfill this objective two field experiments were carried out during the two successive seasons of 2011 and 2012. gypsum was applied at a rate of 10.7 mg ha-1 while sulphur was added as either elemental sulphur at a rate of 4.8 mg ha-1 or sulphuric acid at a rate of 1190 l ha-1. the obtained results could be summarized as follows: the highest values of rice yield and its attributes as well as nutrient contents and uptake values were obtained due to treating the investigated soil with sulphuric acid. also, the effect of treatments showed a descending increase in the order of, sulphuric acid > sulphur > gypsum > control. the treatment of sulphuric acid was superior to the other treatments. highest proline (21.3 ^mol g-1) value was recorded due to the treatment of gypsum.