Utilization of Pressmud as Organic Amendment to Improve Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Calcareous Soil under Two Legume Crops

The soils of dera ismail khan are calcareous in nature and are particularly low in organic matter, n, p and micronutrients; especially zn. use of only npk fertilizers has also disturbed the c: n ratio. consequently, the soil resource base has been degraded and factor productivity has declined. application of organic fertilizers improves crop yield, soil physico-chemical characteristics and recycles wastes in environment friendly manner. to achieve these objectives pressmud was applied to mung bean and lentil crops in pots having 20 kg soil @ 2, 4, 6, 10, i5 and 20 tonnes ha^-1. treatments having recommended dose of n: p2o5: k2o (30:60:45 kg ha^-1) were also included in the experiments. maximum increase for most of the yield parameters of lentil was recorded in npk treatment, followed by p6 receiving 20 tonnes ha^-1 press mud. the post harvest analysis of soils treated with pressmud showed progressive increase in ec, organic matter content, na^+, hco^- 3, ci^1- and so4 ^2- with increasing levels of pressmud. the concentration of npk, zn, cu, fe and mn in the treated soil samples also increased and was maximum where pressmud was applied @ 15 and 20 tonnes ha^-1.