Abstract

Application of soil amendments apart from improving the soil physical properties also gave higher yields of finger millet. The efficacy of amendments may be graded as follows: organic amendments> industrial wastes > mineral wastes. Within the above group the order of efficacy in each group was as follows: 1) Organics: Poultry manure> farm yard manure > maize straw > cotton waste. 2) Industrial Wastes: Lime sludge furnace slag > cement dust. 3) Mineral amendments: Gypsum > magnesite> tank silt. Incorporation of amendments resulted in significant reduction in bulk density and soil strength, and increase in hydraulic conductivity, stability index, aggregate stability and available water content.

Keywords: Mineral industrial and organic wastes -Soil physical properties-Ragi (Eleusine Coracana)