Assessment of organic amendments for improving coastal saline soil

Abstract Salt‐affected soils are an important resources; although the crop yields in the soils are lower, they should not be ignored nor given up. By using pot experiments, five different organic amendments (pig manure, cattle dung, chicken manure, rapeseed meal, and biochar) were used to investigate their effects on the chemical properties and enzyme activities of coastal saline soil as well as the growth of wheat. We also compared the suitable application doses of these organic amendments. After the treatment of five organic amendments, soils were incubated for 30 days at a constant temperature and moisture. The results showed that organic amendments had the property to decrease soil pH, increase organic matter, change soil enzyme activities, and promote wheat growth. With the rapeseed meal addition at the dose of 50 g kg −1 , soil pH decreased from 8.29 to 7.06, which was 14.8% lower than that in the control soil (no amendments), the organic matter as well as the activities of catalase, urease, alkaline phosphatase, and saccharase significantly increased, and the biomass of wheat increased by 48.4%. Compared with control, the rapeseed meal and pig manure were recommended as the suitable soil amendments for remediating coastal saline soil, and the suitable application dose is 50 g kg −1 . These data suggested that rapeseed meal and pig manure are an efficient choice in improving salt‐induced land degradation. This study will not only lay the theoretical foundation for remediating coastal saline soil but also provide advice on selecting organic matters in ameliorating coastal saline soil.