Soil Fertility and Nutrient management (1+1)

Methods Of Reclamation Or Management Of Saline Soils

I. Physical methods
Scraping: The salts accumulated on the surface can be removed by mechanical means. This is the simplest & most economical way to reclaim saline soils if the area is very small e.g. small garden lawn or a patch in a field. This improves plant growth only temporarily as the salts accumulate again & again.
Flushing: Washing of surface salts by flushing water. This is especially practicable for soils having a crust & low permeability. However this is not sound method of practice. 
Leaching: leaching with good quality water, irrigation or rain is the only practical way to remove excess salts from the soil. It is effective if drainage facilities are available, as this will lower the water table & remove the salts by draining the salt rich effluent.

• Leaching requirement: The amount of water needed to remove the excess soluble salts from the saline soils is called leaching requirement or The fraction of the irrigation water that must be leached through the root zone or soil profile to control soil salinity at any specific level(Salt balance)
                                                               EC _iw                                  D_dw
  Leaching Requirement (LR)= -------------X 100   or    ----------------X100
                                                               EC _dw                                 D_iw 
  Where, EC= Electrical Conductivity in dSm-1
  iw= EC of Irrigation water in dSm-1
  dw= EC of Drainage water in dSm-1
  Ddw= Depth of drainage water in inches
  Diw= Depth of irrigation water in inches

II. Agronomic and cultural methods
In areas where only saline irrigation water is available or when shallow saline water table prevails and soil permeability is low, the following cultural practices are adopted .
1. Selection of crops and crop rotations:
On the basis of crop tolerance to quality of irrigation water or soil salinity the crops can be classified in four groups viz.
¥  Highly tolerant crops: Barley, Sugar beet, datepalm
¥  Tolerant: Tapioca,mustard,coconut, spinach, amaranthus, pomegranate, guava, ber
¥ Semi-tolerant:Ashguard, bittterguard, brinjal, cabbage, cluster bean, Pea, lady’s finger, muskmelon, onion, potato, dolichos, sweet potato, tomato, turnip, water melon
¥  Sensitive: Radish, carrot, Coriander, Cumin, Mint, Grape, sweet orange.
2. Method of raising plants:
a. crop should be raised by transplanting seedlings (especially vegetables, flowers, fruit trees) than germinating the seeds.
b. Wild root stocks grafted with a good quality but salinity sensitive scion. (Mango, citrus, Guava and ornamental plants like rose).
3. Irrigation practices:
a. Method of water application- follow furrow or drip irrigation, sub surface irrigation systems and sprinkler irrigation.
b. Frequency of irrigation- irrigation more often (frequent) can maintain better water availability & decrease the salinity should not too much irrigations.
4. Use of mulching materials to prevent evaporation losses like straws, plastic sheets etc.
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