Soil Salinity Essay

Literature Review:

A literature review reveals that many experimental researches have been done to determine the various factors that lead to the salinity/sodicity of soils in order to find the most effective techniques and methods for best treatment of these types of soils and make them arable. Experiments have been conducted on different kinds of soil, irrigation water, and agricultural crops trying to gather all pieces of the puzzle to solve the problem of salty soils, which threaten the availability of natural food resources for the livings. Those experiments has concluded a number of techniques, which; if used in a proper manner, will improve the soil and make it suitable for agriculture. Among them, scientists discovered methods to remove the salts from the root zones of the plants such as Leaching and Drainage. They also invented some chemical substances to enrich the soil and reduce the amount of salt components "Na+ for instance" such as Amendments and Organic Manures. In addition, they studied the irrigation water effects on the soil salinity to see if there is a correlation between both. An example of implementing those methods is the projects carried by Executive Authority for Land Improvement Projects (EALIP) in Egypt for managing and rehabilitating the Deteriorated Soils. The project includes Gypsum application for improving the productivity of sodic soils, sub-soiling to improve soil properties, and land leveling and reshaping for better water management and improvement of the drainage and canal system for salinity and waterlogging control (EALIP, 2003). Another research was conducted by Carrington Research Extension Center of North Dakota State University (2009) to manage the soil salinity with the addition of raw ...

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...tions (PAM) as soil conditioner .PAM is applied to increase soil ventilation and porosity and reduce compaction, dirtiness and water run-off. PAM solutions are applied into irrigation ditches using the patch technique at a concentration of 200 mg /l. When irrigation water comes into contact with Gypsum which we broadcasted into the soil, it dissolves into "Ca2+" and "SO42-" ions that slightly increase the salinity of water while reducing the SAR of the soil. The "Ca2+" cations are free to replace the "Na+" cations, thereby enhancing flocculation, improving soil structure, and increasing water infiltration rate. Frequent quantities of water over 1-2 weeks during summer, and 3-4 weeks during winter are to be added to the furrow to make sure Date Palm does not suffer from water deficiency during different seasons. (Gharaibeh, M. A., Eltaif, N. I., and Albalasmeh, A. A.)