LECTURE NO : 3

RECLAMATION
AND
MANAGEMENT OF SALINE SOILS
• Salt effected soils problems do not develop over
night, it takes years for salts to accumulate
enough to reduce crop growth.
• Reclamation can take just as long.
For carrying out a reclamation programme
systematically,
• Proper characterization and
• Cause of the problem have to be thoroughly
understood.
• Understanding the implications and
• The primary objective of reclamation and
management of saline soils is;
• To reduce excess soluble salts to a desired
level in the rooting zone that permit ideal or
near ideal plant growth so that productivity of
these soils is restored.
• Removing of salts by leaching with good
quality water and
• Lowering of water table through surface and
sub-surface drainage are the best possible
ways to reclaim saline soils.
• Without adequate drainage, proper reclamation
of any salt affected soil cannot be achieved on
a long term basis.
• But in areas where achieving non-saline
condition may not be practically and
economically feasible, under such situation,
one has to live with the salinity and minimize
its adverse effects by adopting various
management practices.
 MANAGEMENT OF SALINE SOILS:
Common strategies employed in the purpose of
desalinization of the salinity of soils are mentioned
herein.
AMELIORATION METHODS

1.PHYSICAL / MECHANICAL
2. AGRONOMIC / CULTURAL
3.CROP FACTORS
4.IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT
5.LEACHING / HYDRO TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT
6.CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT
1.PHYSICAL / 2. AGRONOMIC / 3.CROP FACTORS
MECHANICAL CULTURAL
 Land levelling  Land shaping • Choice of crop
 Profile Inversion technologies • Crop rotation
 Salt scraping/ Raking  Planting techniques • Cropping pattern
 Tillage/Mulching  Proper seed placement /Cropping sequence
 Method of raising plants
 Row spacing/Plant
density
 Others

4.IRRIGATION 5.LEACHING / 6.CHEMICAL

MANAGEMENT HYDRO TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT
• Pre-sowing irrigation • Flushing • Soil fertility
• Method of irrigation • Leaching requirement management
• Frequency of irrigation • Drainage • Use of micro-organisms
(Irrigation interval)
1.PHYSICAL / MECHANICAL
MANAGEMENT :

A. Land levelling
B. Profile Inversion
C. Salt Scraping
D. Tillage/Mulching
 A. LAND LEVELLING :

• The variation in micro relief often lead to increased

salinity of raised spots and leaching in the dips.
• Therefore proper levelling and grading is essential
in achieving uniformity in irrigation.
 B. PROFILE INVERSION :
Inversion of highly saline surface soil with less saline
sub soil by inversion plough.

Fig. Profile before and after profile inversion of a saline soil

C. SALT SCRAPING / RAKING :

• Removing the salts, that have accumulated on

the soil surface by mechanical means is known
is Scraping(or) Raking.
• Scratching the soil surface with spade to
remove the salt flakes (for small areas)
• It is not a permanent solution since it is only
partial removal of salts from the surface.
• However, this method is extensively used in
Fig. SCRAPPING OF SALTS
 Salt scraping - Advantages:
• This is the simplest and most economical way,
if the area is very small.
• Cost effective but provides only temporary
solution
• Improves the plant growth only temporarily
 Salt scraping - Disadvantages :
• Useful only in the areas where surface salt
efflorescence (crusting) is noticed.
• Removal of salts from sub-surface layers(root zone)
is not possible
• This method fails to give a permanent solution
under shallow water table conditions where salts can
again rise and accumulate at surface due
evapotranspiration.
 D. TILLAGE / MULCHING :
• Tillage and other moisture conservation practices
play a crucial role in salt leaching during monsoons
when most saline soils remain fallow.
• The emphatics during monsoon should be to ;
• Maximise the infiltration of rain water into the soil
and
• Minimise its losses due to runoff and evaporation.
• To achieve this, the field should be properly
levelled, bunded and surface soil should be
kept open and protected against the beating
action of rain drops.
• This can be achieved through ploughing
during the raining period and by adopting
other water conservation practices
a. Deep ploughing and sub soiling
b. Mulching
 A. DEEP PLOUGHING AND SUB SOILING :
Advantages :
• Breaks impermeable layer or hard pan or cemented sub soil
layer and improves internal drainage
• Facilitate internal transport of salts dissolved in water to
deeper layers

Fig, DEEP PLOUGHING

Disadvantages :
• Cannot remove salts from the root zone
• Useful only in cases where impermeable layer
exists near to the soil surface
• Useful in the areas where there is a salt crust of
highly hygroscopic salts which may prevent the
use of farm machinery or any other equipment
• Due to gradient requirement (for runoff), planning
of the irrigation is a problem
• Providing surface drainage in land-locked areas is
difficult
 B) MULCHING:
• During the early stage of crop growth, much of the
water evaporates from the surface, leaving behind
the salts, which affect the germination by their
• Direct toxicity,
• Osmotic effects and/or
• Development of hard crust on the surface .
Evaporation of water and its consequences can be checked by
providing a mulch on the surface
For this,
• crop residues like straw or
• a thin plastic sheet or even
• the natural soil mulch can be used.
• The mulch proves more beneficial in winter as
it is ;
• Conserves the moisture
• Prevents the build up of salts in the root zone.
• Maintains proper temperature of the soil.
• Helps in early germination of seeds
 2. AGRONOMIC / CULTURAL :

a) Land shaping technologies

b) Planting techniques
c) Proper seed placement
d) Method of raising plants
e) Row-spacing(or)plant density
f) Others
 A) LAND SHAPING TECHNOLOGIES:

• The management of the location of salts in

relation to root zone or seed placement is one
of the tools to grow crops on the saline bed.
• Modification in the irrigation practices and
shaping the land to obtain a more favourable
salt distribution in the soil matrix is well
known alternative.
• As the salts tend to accumulate in the ridges when
using furrow type irrigation, the direction of
movement of applied water and dissolved salts can
be managed in order to get a favourable salt
distribution.

With irrigation,
• salts leach out of the soil under the furrows and
• build up on the ridges.

• Where soil and farming practices permit, furrow

planting may help in obtaining better stands and
DIRECTION OF SALT FLOW & SALT ACCUMULATION IN FURROW IRRIGATION
B. PLANTING TECHNIQUES :

Single row planting system:

• It causes more injury to the crop due to
accumulation of salts at root zone.

Planting of seedlings on 21” flat topped beds are

less susceptible to salt injury than single row
planting system.
Planting on Sloping beds:
• It causes less injury of salts to plants because
salts are effectively carried away from the seed
row by advancing wetting front and salts get
accumulated in the middle of top of the bed.
Fig. Pattern of salt build up depends on bed shape and irrigation method.
Seeds sprout only when they are placed so as to avoid excessive salt build up
around them
 C. PROPER SEED PLACEMENT :
• Plants are generally most sensitive to the soil
salinity during;
• the germination and early vegetative stages of
growth and
• become more tolerant at later stages.
• But in Rice, salinity stress causes maximum
damage at pollination stage.
• Because of greater sensitivity at seedling
emergence stage, it is important to keep
salinity levels in the seed bed as low as
• Low salinity in the root zone can be achieved
by manipulating the soil surface conditions
(Bed shape and irrigation management)
• Under furrow irrigation soluble salts tend to
accumulate/concentrate towards the crest
(top)of the bed / ridge away from wet zone.
Placement of seed on off-centre slope of the
single row will put the seed in the minimum
salinity and optimum moisture conditions.
• Under high salinity, the alternate row should be left
unirrigated, this will ensure
• maximum accumulation of salts in unirrigated area
and
• leave the slopes of irrigated furrows free of salts and
fit for planting seeds.
 D. METHOD OF RAISING PLANTS :

• Germinating seeds are severely affected by

osmotic effects of salinity,
• resulting in higher mortality and thus
• poor crop stand .
• So wherever possible (vegetables, flower, fruit
trees) crop should be raised by transplanting
seedlings.
• For this, strong older seedlings raised in
nursery on good soil should be used.
 E. ROW-SPACING(OR)PLANT DENSITY :
• Crop yield which is the product of plant density and
yield per plant should increase with increase in the
density of the stunted plants.
• This can achieved by
• narrowing the inter row & intra row spacing and
also
• By increasing seed rate by 25% (eg; wheat)
 F. OTHERS:
• Use of acid forming fertilizers like (NH4)2SO4,
NH4Cl, KCl, SSP etc.
• Foliar application is better than soil application
Ex: Urea.
• Addition of liberal doses of organic manures.
• Growing green manure crops and ploughed in situ.
• Proper ploughing and leveling of land is essential
for a uniform spread of water and effective
downward leaching of salts.
• Retardation of water evaporation from soil surface.
• Growing salt tolerant crops.
 Use of mulches:

Mulching will be helpful in;

• reducing the rate of evaporation checking the
upward movement of salts.
Organic matter addition;
• improves the soil physical condition and
• increase the water holding capacity keeping
the salt in diluted condition.
 Residue management:
• Crop residues will perform the work of mulching
materials and will be useful in;
• reducing the evaporative loss of water.
• It has also beneficial effect on maintenance of soil
properties.
 Irrigation management:
• Proportional mixing of good quality water (if
available) with saline water and then using for
irrigation reduces the effect of salinity.
• Alternate furrow irrigation favours growth of plant
than flooding.
• Drip, sprinkler and pitcher irrigation have been
found to be more efficient than the conventional
flood irrigation method since relatively lesser
amount of water is used under these improved
methods.
 Fertility management
• Addition of extra dose of N to the tune of 20-
25% of recommended level will compensate
the low availability of N in these soils.
• Addition of organic manures like FYM,
Compost etc helps in reducing the ill effect of
salinity due to release of organic acids
produced during decomposition.
• Green manuring (Sunhemp, Dhaincha) and or
Green leaf manuring also counteracts the
effects of salinity
 3. CROP FACTORS :

a) Choice of crop (Cultivars/ Crop species)

b) Crop rotation
c) Cropping pattern/Cropping sequence
A. CHOICE OF CROP (CULTIVARS/ CROP SPECIES) :

• Crops or varieties that can tolerate moderate to

high soil salinity should be selected.
• In general, Beans are more sensitive followed
by fruits trees like Citrus and Grapes
• Crops like Barley and Sugar beet are more
tolerant to soil salinity
TOLERANT TREE / GRASS SPECIES FOR
SALINE SOILS :

i. Very high salt tolerant (EC : > 35 dS/m) :

Trees/Shrubs :
• Prosopis juliflora,
• Salvadora persica,
• Tamarix ericoides,
• Tamarix troupii,
• Salsola baryosma
ii. High salt tolerant (EC : 25 -35 dS/m ):
Trees/Shrubs :
• Acacia farnesiana,
• Tamarix articulata
iii. Tolerant (EC : 15-25 dS/m) :
Trees/shrubs :
• Casuarina sp.,
• Acacia nilotica,
• Acacia tortilis,
• Pongamia pinnata,
• Eucalyptus camaldulensis.
Grasses/shrubs :
• Ziziphus nummularia,
• Chenopodium sp.,
• Dicanthium sp.,
• Panicum sp.,
iv. Moderately tolerant (EC : 10 -15 dS/m) :
Trees/Shrubs :
• Casuarina cunninghamiana,
• Eucalyptus tereticornis,
• Acacia catcechu,
• Acacia webdunia,
• Azardirachta indica,
• Leucaena leucocephala,
• Tamarindus indica,
• Dalbergia sissoo
Grasses/ shrubs :
• Andropogon annulatus,
• Phaseolus lunatus,
• Cenchrus pennisetiformis,
 B. CROP ROTATION :
• An appropriate crop rotation, which should
include
• crops with low ET rate and
• different rooting pattern can help to maintain
the productivity of saline soils.
• Except for coastal saline soils with shallow
water table and acid sulphate soils, rice should
never be grown in saline soils, as it will
contribute to rise in water table and salinity of
the soil.
 C. CROPPING PATTERN /CROPPING SEQUENCE:
• The cropping sequences suitable for :

Highly saline soils Rice- Barley ,

Rice -Dhaincha.
Saline soils with Bajra-Barley
poor quality irrigation
water
 4. IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT :

a) Pre sowing Irrigation

b) Method of Irrigation
c) Irrigation Interval
A). PRE SOWING IRRIGATION:
Primary objectives of pre sowing irrigation are;
• The creation of optimal soil moisture conditions to
facilitate tillage &
• Seed bed preparation.
• To recharge the root zone with water for
germination &
• later ET needs of crops.
In saline soils ;
• Leaching of soluble salts below the seeding zone.
(As germination & seedling establishment are most
critical and the failure at this stage cannot be rectified
 B). METHOD OF IRRIGATION

The method of irrigation affects ;

The depth of irrigation,
Run off,
Deep percolation losses and
Uniformity of application and there by
Salinity of soil.
 Under furrow and drip irrigation system;
• Salinity levels are low immediately beneath
the water source and increase with depth.
 Under sub surface irrigation system ;

• Continuous upward water movement to the

evaporation surface causes salts to accumulate
near soil surface.
• Unless the soil is leached by rainfall or surface
irrigation, salts will certainly accumulate to
toxic levels
 Under sprinkler irrigation system ;

• Lateral salt distribution is relatively uniform,

but soil salinity increases with depth.

This system is very effective in ;

• leaching the surface soil and
• provides a non-saline environment free of crust
• for germination and
• initial stages of plant growth.
• However, if the quality of water is bad, then
the sprinkler irrigated crops are subjected to
damage by both soil salinity and salt spray to
foliage.
• Salts may be directly absorbed by the leaves,
resulting in leaf injury (Necrosis on the
margin) and loss of leaves.
C).FREQUENCYOF IRRIGATION /
IRRIGATION INTERVAL :

• Light and frequent irrigations are desirable than

heavy irrigation water application at lower
intervals.
More frequent irrigations;
• can maintain better water availability and
• decreases the salinity to which the crop is
exposed.
• So an efficient method such as sprinkler method
should be used with more frequent irrigations.
• However, care should be taken not to use too
much water to achieve frequent irrigations.
This will lead to;
• appreciable increase in water use and thus
• higher salts and more drainage water.
• Cyclic use of canal & saline water is more
beneficial than mixing these two to minimize
adverse effect of salinity.
5. LEACHING / HYDRO TECHNICAL
MANAGEMENT:

a) Flushing
b) Leaching
c) Drainage
A. FLUSHING :

• Washing away the surface accumulated salts

by releasing water at a high flow rate over
the surface is known as Flushing.
• The flushed water, along with the dissolved
salts is removed through runoff.
• This method is practicable for soils having a
crust and low permeability.
• Flushing is adopted for salt removal whenever
surface drainage is possible.
 Flushing - Advantages :
• Cost effective.
• Easy and consumes less time.
Disadvantages :
• However, this method is also not very sound
as the salts keep accumulating on the surface
again.
• Moreover , if a safe disposal is not available ,
the salt rich water cannot be disposed off
without creating problems in other areas.
 B. LEACHING – Definition:
• Application of the excess water to pass through the
root zone is defined as Leaching.
• Leaching is process of transporting of soluble salts
by downward movement of water in soil by
application of water.

LEACHING OF SALTS
 Necessity of Leaching:
• Washing out of soluble excess salts from the root
zone is only the most popular practical mean to
manage dry land salinity.
• Leaching is essentially a process whereby water of
low concentration is applied to displace the soil
solution of relatively high concentration.
• Leaching with water (Irrigation/rain) of good quality
& adequate drainage are the two essential components
for permanent reclamation of saline soils.
• Leaching alone or in combination with drainage,
where shallow water table prevail, is practiced for
obtaining favourable distribution of soluble salts in
 Objectives of Leaching :

a) To remove or to reduce the salts in the root

zone commonly known as one time leaching for
reclamation.

b) To maintain the salt balance in the reclaimed

or irrigated lands so that crops do not suffer due
to excess salts at any time in future.
 Leaching Efficiency:
Leaching efficiency depends on
• initial salinity
• chemical composition of salts.
• quantity of soluble salts distributed in profile,
• mode of water application,
• quantity of applied water,
• leaching methods and
• water table depth.
• Leaching is effective, if drainage facilities are
available, as this will lower the water table and
remove the salts by draining the salt rich effluent.
• Leaching method is very much effective in
ameliorating saline soils whose soluble salts
are largely neutral and high in Ca+2 & Mg+2
very little in exchangeable Na+.
• Leaching Saline Alkali or Sodic soils with
water high in soluble salts but low in
exchangeable Na+ may be effective.
 LEACHING REQUIREMENT (LR) :DEFINITION

• The leaching requirement is the calculated

fraction(depth) or quantity of irrigation water
that must be passed or leached through the
root zone to maintain the EC of the drainage
water (ECdw) at or below some specified level
or to control soil salinity at any specified level.

• LR is a calculated estimate of the amount of

leaching required to keep / control soil salinity
within the permissible limits.
Leaching fraction is the fraction of irrigation
water that passes through the lower root zone.

LR depends on
• the initial salt content of the soil,
• desired level of soil salinity after leaching,
• depth to which reclamation is desired and
• soil characteristics.
 CALCULATION OF LEACHING REQUIREMENT:
• LR is the ratio of equivalent depth of drainage water to the
depth of irrigation water, that it is required to maintain a given
soil solution concentration at the bottom of the root zone.
• LR is also equal to the inverse ratio of the corresponding
electrical conductivities.
• LR is expressed as a fraction or as %.

LR = ECIW x 100 = DDw x 100

EC Dw DIW
LR = Leaching requirement (expressed in %)
ECIW = Electrical conductivity of Irrigation water (in dSm -1)
ECDW = Electrical conductivity of Drainage water (in dSm -1)
DDW = Depth of Drainage water (in inches)
DIW = Depth of Irrigation water (in inches)
 LEACHING REQUIREMENT EQUATION (FAO APPROACH):
( By Rhodes, 1974, Rhodes & Merrill,1976)

LR = ECIW /(5ECe) - ECIW

• LR = Minimum LR needed to control salts within the

tolerance (ECe) of the crop.
• ECIW = Salinity (EC)of applied Irrigation water(dsm -1)
• ECe = Average soil salinity tolerated by the crop (can
be obtained from the table.
(It is recommended that ECe at 90% or more yield should be
used in calculation)
NET WATER REQUIRMENT (NWR)
• Total amount of water that needs to be applied to
meet the crop demand and LR
NWR = ET/1-LR
ET = Total annual crop water demand (mm/year)
LR=Leaching requirment as a fraction(leaching
fraction)
 LEACHING METHODOLOGY :
• Proper land levelling is a very important process
before initiation of leaching process, because it
reduces the time of reclamation as well as
improves leaching efficiency.

• To enhance uniformity of leaching, divide the field

into number of small plots (of 20-25 cents) based
on slope with temporary bunds.

• Each plot should be provided with an inlet for

filling of good quality water and an outlet for
• During 1st time, ponding of fresh water on the soil
surface(up to 9’’), thorough puddling and the water
should be kept standing for 1 day and then draining the
water next day through outlets is the basic procedure.
• Proper land levelling preceding to ponding is important.
• Drainage of excess water and salts will remove the salts
from soil surface and profile.
• During 2nd time, ponding of fresh water on the soil
surface should be up to 4-5 ’’only, and then the above
procedure should be repeated.
• Repeat the above procedure 4-5 times till optimum soil
EC is obtained.
 Time of leaching:

• In case, there is no constraint of water the best

time for efficient leaching is when the water
table is deepest and evaporation in minimum.
• Month of July appears to be the best for
leaching
 Depth of reclamation:
• The depth of reclamation depends upon the potential
land use

CROP DEPTH OF RECLAMATION

For shallow rooted crops Leaching of top 15cm is under

taken

For shallow rooted crops 60cm

or pastures
For trees More than 2m

For diversified cropping 1 to 1.5m

• As a thumb rule a unit depth of water will
remove nearly 80 % of salts from a unit soil
depth.
• Passing of 1m leaching water per metre soil
depth under continuous ponding removes 80%
of the soluble salts from the soil.

• For example 30 cm water passing through the

soil will remove approximately 80 % of the
salts present in the upper 30 cm of soil.
 How much to leach:
• The level to which salts should be brought down
during leaching is normally controlled by the crops
to be grown after reclamation.
• The level of salts should be such that for the planned
crop and water management strategies, salt
constituents of concern should not exceed the
permissible limit during the crop growing season.
• If the level achieved after leaching does not permit
cultivation of the proposed crop, either a more
tolerant crop should be selected or additional
leaching water must be applied.
 C. DRAINAGE :
• In the reclamation and subsequent
management of saline soils and broadly in the
prevention of salt damage, drainage of the land
is of prime importance.
• Removal of excess water whether at the soil
surface or in the root zone through surface or
subsurface means to improve soil environment
with the objective to increase agricultural
production is known as Drainage.
• Drainage is the unimpeded downward
movement of water beyond the crop root zone
• It is the ability to move water through and out
of the root zone
• Various means of drainage help in converting
swamps, bags, deltas, and other waterlogged
soils too wet for crop production into areas of
high productivity
Types of drainage:
a) Surface drainage.
b) Horizontal sub surface drainage ( Tile or pipe drainage) .
c) Vertical drainage (Tube well Drainage)
d) Bio - drainage
• Hardpans, bedrock and shallow water tables impede
drainage
Signs of poor drainage:
• Surface ponding
• Slow infiltration
• Soil wetting for prolonged periods of time
Methods to improve drainage:
• Breaking up of hardpan with deep tillage
 Pipe drainage

Tubewell drainage Biodrainage

Fig. Drainage systems

6. CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT :
a) Soil fertility management:
• Owing to low organic matter content , N
deficiency is common in saline soils
• Application of 25% extra ‘N’ fertilizer than
recommended is suggested
• Spilt application of N fertilizers reduce N
losses through volatilization and
Denitrification
• Application of “P” to saline soil is necessary
to maintain soil fertility status & to reduce Cl
• K - fertilizers increases crop yield on
moderately saline soils by improving their
tolerance to Na, Ca, & Mg concentrations
• Use of acid forming fertilizers like
(Ammonium sulphate, Ammonium chloride)
• Integrated plant nutrient system (IPNS) are
essential for stable crop production in saline
soils
• Application of organic manures is essential.
Best results can be achieved by using optimum
combination of Chemical fertilizer + Organic
manure + Bio fertilizer.
• Q. Calculate the LR to prevent the build up of salts
in the upper 30cm if the EC1W = 1.5 ds/m & ECDW=
7.5ds/m

LR = EC1W x 100 = 1.5x100 =20%

EC Dw 7.5

• That means 20% of applied irrigation water with EC

1.5 ds/m should pass beyond 30cm to control the
build up of salts beyond 7.5 ds/m.
b) Use of micro-organisms (Application of
Cyano Bacteria to soils):
• Cyanobacteria can grow and fix atmospheric
N2 particularly in saline soils
• These organisms required Na for their growth
and for some physiological activities like
photosynthesis, respiration and N2 fixation
(Apt & Thomas, 1983)
• Cyanobacteria may decrease soil salinity up to
25-30%