Contents to be studied:

1. Salt affected soils

i. Causes and Occurrence

ii. Consequences

iii. Reclamation and its purposes

2. Waterlogged soils

Reclamations (Ground water drainage and bio-Drainage)

3. Fertilizer recommendations

4. Reference

Generally there are two principle problems in soil which not only affect the soil

productivity but soil fertility as well. These two problems are:

• Salt affected soil \ Soil salinity

• Waterlogged soil

Before we start our discussion we must know about soil fertility and soil

productivity.

Soil Fertility:

Soil fertility refers to the amount of nutrients in the soil, which is sufficient to

support plant life. Fertile soil has the following properties:

• It is rich in nutrients necessary for basic plant nutrition, including nitrogen,

phosphorus and potassium.

 • It contains sufficient minerals (trace elements) for plant nutrition, including

boron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum,

sulfur, and zinc.

• Good soil structure, creating well drained soil.

• A range of microorganisms that support plant growth.

• It often contains large amounts of topsoil.

Soil Productivity:

Soil productivity means the crop producing capacity of soil which is measured in

terms of yield or biomass. A fertile soil may or may not be productive.

Soil Salinity or Salt Affected Soils:

If you see white surface crusting in areas of your fields, or if you see some areas

that are wetter than others after a few days of rain, this could be an indication of a salt-

affected soil. The very first step to managing salt-affected soils is to understand and

identify them.

Soils containing high concentrations of soluble salts will interfere with normal

growth and development of salt-sensitive crops. Such soils are called saline soils. Plants

grown in these soils often appear drought stressed even when adequate water is available

because the osmotic potential of the soil prevents the roots from taking in water. These

areas often remain wetter compared to the rest of the field, and they usually have a white

surface crust when dry.

 Normal productive agricultural soils have electrical conductivity values of less

than 1000 µmhos/cm, whereas saline soils have a value greater than 4000 µmhos/cm,

which is equal to 2640 ppm total soluble salts. If these areas are cultivated more

frequently, it can cause soil compaction and poor yield, particularly in years when rainfall

is less than normal.

Soils in which the cation (positively charged ion) exchange sites are occupied by

more than 15 percent of sodium and have a pH of 8.5 or above are called sodic (alkali)

soils. Sodium in the soil disperses clay and similar soil particles, and prevents them from

aggregating. These dispersed particles become easily suspended in water and plug soil

pores. This creates poor drainage for sodic soils, which causes them to have dry subsoil

and a wet surface layer. Even with adequate rainfall or irrigation, crops may fail due to

these factors.

Causes of Soil Salinity:

Salt affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts, typically most

pronounced at the soil surface. Salts can be transported to the soil surface by capillary

transport from a salt laden water table and then accumulate due to evaporation; they can

also be concentrated in soils due to human activity. As soil salinity increases, salt effects

can result in degradation of soils and vegetation.

Salinization is a process that results from:

• High levels of salt in the soils.

• Landscape features that allow salts to become mobile. (movement of water table)
 • Climatic factors (high temperature and low rainfall) that favor salt accumulation.

• Human activities such as land clearing and aquaculture activities.

Natural Occurrence:

Salt is a natural element of soils and water. The ions responsible for salinization

are: Na , K , Ca , Mg and Cl
+ + 2+ 2+ -

As the Na+ (sodium) predominates, soils can become sodic. Sodic soils present

particular challenges because they tend to have very poor structure which limits or

prevents water infiltration and drainage.

As soil minerals weather and release salts, these salts are flushed or leached out of

the soil by drainage water in areas with sufficient precipitation. In addition to mineral

weathering, salts are also deposited via dust and precipitation. In dry regions salts may

accumulate, leading to naturally saline soils. Human practices can increase the salinity of

soils by the addition of salts in irrigation water. Proper irrigation management can

prevent salt accumulation by providing adequate drainage water to leach added salts from

the soil.

Consequences of Salinity:

The consequences of salinity are

• Detrimental effects on plant growth and yield

• Damage to infrastructure (roads, bricks, corrosion of pipes and cables)

 • Reduction of water quality for users, sedimentation problems

• Soil erosion ultimately, when crops are too strongly affected by the amounts of

salts.

Salinity is an important land degradation problem. Soil salinity can be reduced by

leaching soluble salts out of soil with excess irrigation water. High levels of soil salinity

can be tolerated if salt-tolerant plants are grown.

Reclamation of Saline Soils:

The following techniques or events can help reclaim saline soils.

• Salt can be leached out of the root zone through good quality irrigation water or

by heavy rainfall

• Create good surface and internal drainage. The use of tile drains and open ditches

in the fields can increase drainage and remove some of the salts.

• Break the compacted layers that occur near or at the soil surface.

• Add organic matter, such as rotted hay or feedlot manure, at 10-15 tons/acre to

improve soil porosity.

There are some additional considerations in the reclamation of sodic and saline-sodic

soils.
 • Reclamation of sodic soils is similar to saline soil in leaching the salts out of the

root zone, except that gypsum should be added to remove the sodium. The

amount of gypsum required depends on the soil texture and ESP.

• Reclamation of these salt-affected soils is a very difficult thing and can take

several years, so be patient.

• Sandy soils in high rainfall regions can be reclaimed more easily than clay soils if

rainfall is the only source of reclamation.

Apart from these, other management practices can be followed. They include

avoiding excessive fertilization after the leaching of salts process has started, avoiding

deep tillage as it might bring salts to the soil surface (forcing a restart of the reclamation

process), establishing a cover crop to prevent erosion, and other management practices

that will reduce surface evaporation and encourage water movement downward in the

soil. Some crops are more salt- tolerant than others and should be considered in these

situations.

Purpose of Reclamation:

1. To reduce and control harmful salt concentrations in the root zone

2. To reduce problems of crusting, permeability, or soil structure on sodium affected

soils

3. To promote desired plant growth

Waterlogged soils \ Water logging:

Water logging refers to the saturation of soil with water. Soil may be regarded as

waterlogged when the water table of the groundwater is too high to conveniently permit

an anticipated activity, like agriculture.

In agriculture, various crops need air (specifically, oxygen) to a greater or lesser

depth in the soil. Water logging of the soil stops air getting in.

In irrigated agricultural land, water logging is often accompanied by soil salinity

was waterlogged soils prevent leaching of the salts imported by the irrigation water.

Reclamations of Water Logged Soils:

The best solution for the reclamation is the removal of water by drainage.

Drainage practice may be chosen depending upon the condition of soil and extent of

water logging.

1. Groundwater Drainage:

Subsurface (groundwater) drainage for water table and soil salinity in agricultural

land can be done by horizontal and vertical drainage systems.

• Horizontal drainage systems are drainage systems using open ditches (trenches)

or buried pipe drains.

 • Vertical drainage systems are drainage systems using pumped wells, either open

dug wells or tube wells.

Both systems serve the same purposes, namely water table control and soil salinity

control. Both systems can facilitate the reuse of drainage water (e.g. for irrigation), but

wells offer more flexibility. Reuse is only feasible if the quality of the groundwater is

acceptable and the salinity is low.

2. Bio-Drainage:

Drainage by fast growing tree species is known as bio-drainage. This technology

is economic as well as eco-friendly. Trees like Eucalyptus can grow well under high

water table conditions as compared to other forest species.

Evapo-transpiration from forest tree species is 2 to 2.5 times higher than

agricultural crops. Some Eucalyptus tree species transpire higher than pan evaporation.

Pan evaporation in arid climate is more than 2 m per year. Assuming a specific yield of

0.2 and evaporation of water from forest plantation area equivalent to pan evaporation, it

works out that plantation in 10 ha area will lower the water table area by 1 m in 1000 ha

annually. Proper drainage removes excess water from crop root zone and excess nutrient

salts. A suitable soil environment is created for growth of plant roots which results in

higher crop production on sustainable basis.

Approaches for Fertilizer Recommendations:

Different approaches are used for recommending fertilizers to crops. These

approaches are:
 1. General state level recommendations or Sufficiency level approach aims to apply

fertilizer which gives the most economic crop yield response. This approach

involves soil test and other factors like yield target and prices of crop and

fertilizer.

2. Build-up and Maintenance approach focuses on building soil fertility to a level

that produces high crop yields. In this, the fertilizer levels used maintain soil test

in medium to high rating.

3. Soil test based recommendations. Soil testing is the basis for making

scientifically sound management decisions about fertilizer requirements.

Fertilizer programs based on soil testing lead to increased yields and profits by

providing the correct amounts of needed nutrients. Soil testing also provides the

basis for improving the uniformity of nutrient application across a field. As

nutrient availability becomes less variable, crop growth is more uniform and

optimum response to other management inputs is achieved.

Reference:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_salinity

• http://www.noble.org/Ag/Research/Articles/SaltAffectedSoils/index.html

• http://infobridge.org/asp/practice_view.asp?practiceID=58

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_drainage

• http://www.ipni.net/ppiweb/filelib.nsf/0/58AD2B27D14FCF9906256D50006CB

EDC/$file/Know-4-2002.pdf