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A PROJECT REPORT ON

ESTIMATION OF SOIL SALINITY & ITS EFFECTIVE USE


(GUIDED BY: Mrs.) AS PART FULFILMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES SEMESTER-V (JULY-DEC.2013)

SUBMITTED BY: STOP POLLUTING OUR WORLD (SPOW) GROUP

INTRODUCTION Soil salinity is one of the major environmental problem that affects the crop yield and consequently the socio-economic condition and health especially of the farming community. Monitoring the degree and the progressive development of soil salinity in a command area is important to assess its adverse effect on production and productivity and on environmental degradation. So far, the assessment of the extent of soil salinity in irrigation commands is based on the extent of water logging. The water table data being observed by the soil conservation and soil survey departments serves to define the extent of water logging. Assessment of soil salinity problems based on such an approach would not represent a true picture in an irrigation command. On a smaller scale, soil salinity is also monitored. Presently, the monitoring of soil salinity is based on traditional methods that is visual or by analyzing the samples in the laboratory. The visual salinity assessment enables to detect trends within the growing season, whereas the laboratory methods are time, capital and labour intensive, which is a serious disadvantage in large scale or periodic monitoring. Therefore, there is a need to develop and standardize the methods, which are rapid, non-destructive and measure the soil salinity directly in the field. The advantage of such methods over the presently available methods should be their fastness, limited effect of spatial variability on measurement and possibility to use under dry wet, stony, cropped and uncropped soil conditions.

Salinisation, also known as alkalisation or sodification, is often associated with irrigated areas where low rainfall soil textural characteristics impede the washing out of the salts which subsequently build-up in the soil surface la waters dramatically worsens the problem.

In coastal areas, salinisation can be associated with the over exploitation of groundwater caused by the demands and agriculture. Over extraction of groundwater can lower the normal water table and lead to the intrusion of mar coastal areas, such as tsunamis, can cause severe salinisation problems with several years of low fertility of the a Nordic countries, the de-icing of roads with salts can lead to localised salinisation.

Salinity is one of the most widespread soil degradation processes on the Earth. According to some estimates, the about one billion hectares. They occur mainly in the aridsemiarid regions of Asia, Australia and South America in the Caspian Basin, the Ukraine, the Carpathian Basin and the on the Iberian Peninsula. Soil salinity affects an European Union, mainly in the Mediterranean countries, and is a major cause of desertification. In Spain 3% of t land is severely affected, reducing markedly its agricultural potential while another 15 % is under serious risk. Sa five main groups:

Saline soil (Solonchak) with high amount of water soluble soils. Alkaline soil (Solonetz), high alkalinity and high exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP).

Magnesium soil: high magnesium content in the soil solution. Gypsiferous soil: strong gypsum or calcium sulphate (CaSO4) accumulation. Acid sulphate soil: highly acidic iron or aluminium sulphate accumulation.

In Europe, the first two groups are the most significant. The factors that determine the accumulation of salt in a soil are as follows:

source of salt (local weathering, surface and subsurface waters, human activities); transporting agents accumulating salts from large areas to smaller deposits as well as from thick geological strata to thinner horizons (usually water, wind); limited vertical or horizontal drainage conditions; driving force for movement of solution, usually relief (surface runoff), hydraulic gradient (groundwater flow), suction (capillary transport) or concentration gradient (diffusion); negative water balance (evapotranspiration greater than precipitation).

Two main types of salt accumulation in soil can be distinguished in Europe:

Continental salt accumulation due to intense weathering and arid climate or due to hydrogeological conditions (e.g. closed evaporative basins).

Human induced salt accumulation due to improper land use (e.g. irrigation, fertilizer application).

Salt affected soil often exhibits a white or grey salt crust on the ground. The pH of the soil is around 8.5 and the salt interferes with the growth of all but the most specially adapted plants (ED)

Management of Soil Salinity and Alkalinity Problems in India: Like the problem of salt-affected soils afflicting many other countries with arid and semi-arid climates, these lands occupy about 8.6 M ha in India out of which 3.5 M ha are in canal commands, commonly referred to as manmade or wet deserts. Starting from the early systematic work of Dr. Leather about a century ago, real impetus to development and application of reclamation technologies has occurred in the post independence period, especially the seventies. Salt-affected soils are grouped into saline and alkali/sodic soils on the considerations of soil management and crop responses. Out of the 3.4 M ha of alkali lands in Indo-Gangetic Plains, about 1.0 M ha has been reclaimed by the hydro-chemical technology. Application of amendments like gypsum, equivalent to 50% gypsum requirement, to the surface 15-cm soil only was enough to start cropping with rice. Light and frequent irrigation are ideal for upland crops. Application of higher doses of nitrogen in splits to compensate for volatilization losses, organic matter additions through green manure to increase reclaiming action, skipping phosphorus application in the initial years and the application of zinc to each crop were some of the emerging recommendations. Application of low-grade pyrites also gave encouraging results in calcareous soils. Feasibility of drainage has been successfully demonstrated in 1980s for the quicker rehabilitation of saline and waterlogged soils. Provision for subsurface drains at 1.52.0 m depth and 5075 m spacing in alluvial soils and 1224 m interval in vertisol was sufficient for facilitating growing crops within 23 years on lands lying barren for considerable period. However, technological, economic, social, and political considerations are the major bottlenecks for large-scale amelioration of saline soils, in addition to the safer disposal of drainage waters. Strategies worked out for successful crop production on saline soils after drainage include initial leaching management (minimizing water requirement for leaching by synchronizing with monsoon rains, etc.), proper selection of crops/cultivars, irrigation (method, controlled frequency for enhancing water-table contribution, canal water use during the initial stages including presowing for conjunctive use with drainage waters) and cultural practices (furrow planting, increasing seed rate and fertility management). Some of the future issues for combating salinity and also preventing further land degradations in India are also highlighted. Application and Principle All soils contain soluble salts with major dissolved inorganic ions of Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, K+, Cl-, SO42-, HCO3-, and CO32-. Soils are considered saline when they contain high levels of soluble salts, which can have negative impacts on crop growth through the reduction in water availability to the plant or toxic effects of individual ions such as H2BO3- and Ba2+ under hypersaline conditions. In arid and semiarid climates, soluble salts accumulate in soil surface due to high potential of evapotranspiration along with insufficient water to leach soluble salts from the soil. For irrigated lands, poor irrigation water quality, defined as water with elevated levels of soluble salts, as well as poor drainage due to

high water table and low soil permeability can also result in accumulation of high salt levels. In addition, salt-affected soils can be caused by salt water spills from oil field activities as well as high rates of manure and sludge applications. In coastal areas, seawater intrusion has also increasingly become an important cause of soil salinity. Sodic soils, on the other hand, are those soils containing high level of Na+ relative to other major cations, which can result in dispersion of soil particles and poor water permeability. The latter also leads to the disturbed soil-water-plant interrelationship (Evangelou, 1998). Soil salinity is generally characterized by determining total dissolved (TDS) or electrical conductivity (EC) of soil solution. The two are closely related but EC is often measured. There are several different approaches to measure soil EC. An appropriate procedure may be selected depending on the type of information needed in a particular situation. When a rapid in-situ measurement of the field apparent EC (bulk soil EC) is desired, measurement based on non-contacting terrain EC sensors including electromagnetic (EM) systems may be used (Rhoades, 1990). Such a procedure has often been used for characterizing salinity of large fields, and it has general lower accuracy than those otherwise based on EC measurement performed on water extracts of soil in a conventional laboratory. The laboratory determination of EC is accomplished using a conductivity cell consisting of metal electrodes, and the measurement is expressed in specific conductivity unit (deci Siemens per meter, dS m-1), which is the product of the measured conductance (reciprocal of resistance) and the conductivity cell constant. A conductivity cell constant is determined by the specific length (L) and cross-sectional area (A) of the two electrodes. Alternatively, TDS can be determined by a tedious procedure based on residue weight after evaporation to dryness after filtration (Rhoades, 1996). This chapter will focus on prevalent laboratory procedures for characterizing soil salinity based on EC measurement. Most commonly used laboratory procedures for measuring EC or TDS of soil solution is based on water extracts. The extraction based on the saturated paste has served as a standard procedure because it mimics the field condition the best for most soils. Although this extract varies with soil texture, it is often used because it is the lowest extract for most soils for which sufficient extract can be practically removed from a soil sample for compositional analysis of major constituents and because it is better related to soil-water contents under most field conditions. For these reasons, plant tolerance to salinity has been expressed based on EC values of a saturation paste extract (USDA, 1954; Mass and Hoffman. 1977). On the other hand, other extracts of fixed soil to water ratio, especially 1:1 and 1:2 on weight basis, have also been widely used by many laboratories for reducing the difficulties associated with the preparation of saturated paste extracts.

Soil sodicity is generally characterized by exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) based on sodium saturation of cation exchange capacity (CEC). However, it is more often expressed by sodium absorption ratio (SAR) due to the easy determination of individual ions in soil solutions (or water extracts) and the close numeric relationship between the two (Evangelou, 1998). SAR is calculated as

Na/(Ca+Mg)1/2 based on concentrations of Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ in mmol L-1 in the extract of a saturated paste or other soil to water ratios as measured by an ICP. Equipment and Apparatus 1. Weigh balance 2. Plastic containers or glass Erlenmeyer flasks 3. Automatic solution dispenser 4. Reciprocating shaker 5. Vacuum line and suction apparatus 6. Conductivity cell(s) 7. Conductivity meter, preferably with temperature compensation 8. ICP-AES or ion chromatography (IC)/flow injection analysis (FIA) if individual solutes are determined Reagents 1. Deionized (D.I.) water 2. Standard KCl solution at 0.010 M: Dissolving 0.7456 g KCl (fw: 74.551, CAS# 7447-407) in 1 liter of D.I. water. The EC for this solution is 0.147 dS/m at 25 oC. 3. Standards for ICP analysis.

REFERENCES: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377402000586 http://www2.alterra.wur.nl/Internet/webdocs/ilri-publicaties/special_reports/Srep13/Srep13h3.pdf http://cssrisite.talents.co.in/site/objectives.html

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