ABSTRACT

Soil degradation due to salinization is one of the significant environmental concerns, threatening the sustainability of the world’s agricultural production and global food security. Salinity and acidity cause nutritional disorders of plants and limit the uptake of essential plant nutrients (i.e., N, P, K, Ca, Mg, etc.). High salt concentrations negatively affect soil microbial activities as well as soil chemical and physical properties. The overall goal of this chapter is to assess the reclamation potential of different types of organic and inorganic amendments for salt-affected soil. However, most of the organic amendments derived from waste or low-cost sources proved to have a high potential for reclamation of salt-affected soils. Therefore, this chapter will extensively discuss the performance of three low-cost organic amendments, namely biochar, solid waste compost, and municipal sewage sludge for reclamation of salt-affected soils with their specific characteristics and respective mechanisms.