Abstract:
Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the tropical country where scattered dry
zone is now under Agricultural benefits. In order to that, salinization is recognized as the major
factor contributes in land degradation, which ultimately influence on crop yield.Saline soil which
is characterized with salt comprises the high concentration of soluble salts and very low amount
of organic matter as well as nitrogen content.Release of inorganic forms of nutrients in soil is
functionally associated with carbon mineralization hence, is affected by the salinity stress that
inhibits the mineralization of organic materials in soil. For that, present study was designed to
assess the plant nutrient availability of manure treated soil at different soil salinity levels. A
laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different soil salinitylevels on nutrient
availability. Cow dung and paddy straw were chosen as organic amendments and applied at the
rate of 10 tons/ ha. Manure decomposition and nutrient availability studied at three salinity levels
namely 1500 ppm, 2000 ppm and 2500 ppm. The study was arranged in a completely
randomized design (CRD) using 7 treatments and replicated three times .Treatments were
incubated at 25oC for 42 days.With increasing salt concentration nutrient availability was
significantly decreased in manure amended soil. Application of cow dung to soil had shown
highest available N (0.223%) and P content (110.14ppm) at 1500ppm salt concentration.
Highest available K content
