Barley is one of the important crops tolerant to environmental stresses such as salinity and drought conditions. The shortage of water for irrigation and increasing salinity in the irrigation water are the two main factors affecting agriculture productivity under Saudi Arabian conditions. A green house experiment was conducted to study the effect of sludge manure and sulphur application rates on the growth and mineral composition of barley plants as well as the ionic balance in calcareous soil irrigated with different saline waters. Results indicated that, the EC, SAR and pH values of the studied soil as well as the concentrations of soluble Ca2++ Mg2+, Na+, Cl-, HCO3-, and SO42- were significantly increased with increasing salinity levels of the irrigation water without amendments application. Also increasing the application rate of sludge manure relatively decreased soil pH values while increased soil EC, concentration of soluble ions and the availability of N, P, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu. The rate of increase was quite different from one element to another; however, the highest increase was obtained at the higher application rate of sludge manure whether the soil was irrigated with tap water or saline water. In spite of SO42- and Ca2++ Mg2+ ions, opposite trends were found at elemental sulphur treatments. The EC, SAR, pH values and the concentrations of soluble Na+, Cl-, and HCO3- were significantly decreased, whereas available N, P, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu values were increased depending on the rate of elemental sulphur applied and salinity levels of the irrigation water.
Irrigation using saline water alone led to a significant decrease in barley dry matter yield, while the application of elemental sulphur and/or sludge manure either alone or in combinations significantly increased the dry matter yield of grains, straw and their contents of N, P, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu. Mixing the highest rate of manure with the highest rate of elemental sulphur show the best treatment. Therefore, mixing sludge manure with elemental sulphur was quit good management practices for the improvement of calcareous soil coditions to obtain relatively high barley yields under saline water irrigation.