Detail:

In order to improve the saline soil, Pamabhai Parmar of Surendranagar district of Gujarat uses the discarded cotton bolls that remain after cotton lint is removed. He mixes the bolls with cowdung manure and puts this mixture in the field as organic fertilizer. Pamabhai believes that cotton bolls absorb the salinity of soil and the improves its fertility. He also informs that feeding the discarded cotton bolls to cow increases milk yield.

Knowledge Provider / Innovator: Pamabhai Ratibhai Parmar
Agro-Ecological Zone: North West Zone (GJ-5)North Saurashtra (GJ-6)
Address: Mu. Goriyavada, Surendranagar, Gujarat
District: Mu. Goriyavada, Surendranagar, Gujarat
State: Gujarat
PIN Code 382750

Crop: Cotton
Crop Family: Legume
Crop Scientific Name: (Gossypium hirsutum)
Formulation: Cowdung manure
Ingredients: Discarded cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) bolls

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PAS 1:

"The use of biofertilizers can also mitigate salinity effects on vegetables and reduce soil salinization. A biofertilizer could be defined as a formulated product containing one or more microorganisms that enhance the nutrient status (and the growth and yield) of the plants by either replacing soil nutrients, by making nutrients more available to plants, and/or by increasing plant access to nutrients. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs), endo- and ectomycorrhizal fungi, and many other useful microscopic organisms led to improved nutrient uptake, plant growth, and plant tolerance to salt stress. The inoculation of seeds of various crop plants, such as tomato, pepper, bean, and lettuce, with PGPRs can result in increased root and shoot growth, dry weight, fruit, and seed yield and enhanced tolerance of plants to salt stress. PGPR and Si synergistically enhanced salinity tolerance of the mung bean. The use of arbuscularmycorrhiza (AM) has been shown to be able to alleviate salt stress in tomato, onion, and lettuce. Biofertilizers can reduce soil salinization by reducing application of fertilizers, improving soil fertility by fixing atmospheric N2, both in association with plant roots and independent of roots, solubilizing insoluble soil phosphates, and producing plant growth substances in the soil." [Rui Manuel Almeida Machado, Soil
Salinity: Effect on Vegetable Crop Growth. Management Practices to Prevent and Mitigate Soil Salinization., Horticulturae 2017, 3, 30;
doi:10.3390/horticulturae3020030 www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae ]