Limited availability of organic matter is a problem to sustain crop growth on sodic soil. Organic soil amendments are a costeffective source of nutrients to enhance crop growth. A field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of an organic soil amendment bioaugmented with plant growth-promoting fungi(SF_(OA) ) in combination with gypsum on soil properties and growth and yield attributes of Withania somnifera, one of the most valuable crops of the traditional medicinal system in the world, on a sodic soil at the Aurawan Research Farm of CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India. The SF_(OA) used was prepared by pre-enriching farm waste vermicompost with plant growth-promoting fungi before mixing with pressmud and Azadirachta indica seed cake. The application of SF_(OA) at 10 Mg ha^(-1)after gypsum(25.0 Mg ha^(-1)) treatment significantly(P < 0.05) increased root length(by 96%) and biomass(by 125%) of Withania plants compared to the control without SF_(OA) and gypsum. Similarly, the highest withanolide contents were observed in leaves and roots of Withania plants under 10 Mg ha^(-1)SF_(OA) and gypsum. Combined application of SF_(OA) and gypsum also improved physical, chemical and enzymatic properties of the soil, with the soil bulk density decreasing by 25%, water-holding capacity increasing by 121%, total organic C increasing by 90%, p H decreasing by 17% and alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase and cellulase activities increasing by 54%, 128%, 81% and 96%, respectively, compared to those of the control. These showed that application of the SF_(OA) tested in this study might reclaim sodic soil and further support Withania cultivation and results were better when the SF_(OA) was applied after gypsum treatment.
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