Impacts of gypsum and winter cover crops on soil physical properties and crop productivity when irrigated with saline water

Remediation of salt-affected soil by the addition of organic matter: an investigation into improving glutinous rice productivity

“…There are many reports on rice cultivation which clearly demonstrate the relationship between physiological and morphological changes in reproductive development during seed set, when plants are exposed to salt-affected soil without remediation (Zeng and Shannon, 2000;Zeng et al, 2003;Ali et al, 2004). OM application to saline paddy soil is an effective remediation procedure, in terms of the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil (Mitchell et al, 2000;Hanay et al, 2004;Tejada et al, 2006;Wong et al, 2009), which can be used to enhance the growth and development of rice crops prior to grain harvesting (Ghafoor et al, 2008;Murtaza et al, 2009). …”

“…There are many effective ways for improving salt-affected land, such as water leaching, chemical remediation and phytoremediation (Ahmad and Chang, 2002;Sharma and Minhas, 2005;Qadir et al, 2007). The remediation of salt-affected soil using chemical agents, including gypsum (CaSO 4 .2H 2 O), calcite (CaCO 3 ), calcium chloride (CaCl 2 .2H 2 O), and organic matter (farmyard manure, green manure, organic amendment and municipal solid waste), is a successful approach that has been implemented worldwide, being effective, low cost, and simple (Mitchell et al, 2000;Hanay et al, 2004;Sharma and Minhas, 2005;Tejada et al, 2006). The physical, chemical and biological properties of soil in salt-affected areas are improved by the application of OM, leading to enhanced plant growth and development.…”

The impact of freshwater and wastewater irrigation on the chemistry of shallow groundwater: a case study from the Israeli Coastal Aquifer

“…Anthropogenic contamination is another major cause of salinization and water-quality degradation. One of its most pronounced impacts is increase in the nitrate concentration which is derived from infiltration of sewage effluents, industrial wastes and agriculture return flows (Hern and Feltz, 1998;Hao and Change, 2002;Glen et al, 1999;Mitchel et al, 2000;DeSimone et al, 1997;Vengosh and Keren, 1996). Part of the nitrate contamination is from natural nitrogen (N) in the soil, released to the unsaturated zone due to intense cultivation of virgin soil.…”

Geochemical process regulating groundwater quality in a coastal region with complex contamination sources: Barka, Sultanate of Oman

“…Degradation of groundwater quality in coastal region generally occurs due to natural processes such as saline water intrusion, wind driven sea spray and marine aerosols deposited on the topsoil, upconing of saline water, evaporation, and interaction of groundwater with brines and sedimentary formations like sabkha and marl, which cause high salinity even greater than seawater (Gibb 1976;Banner et al 1989;Allison et al 1990; Maslia and Prowell 1990;Herczeg et al 1991;Rosenthal et al 1992;Vengosh and Rosenthal 1994;Vengosh et al 1999;Cruz and Silva 2000;Cartwright et al 2004;Murad and Krishnamurthy 2004;Farber et al 2007;Zhu et al 2007). Besides, anthropogenic contamination is another major cause of water quality deterioration, especially high nitrate content derived from distinguished origins such as irrigation return flow, fertilizers, farm manures, domestic sewage, septic tank effluent, animal wastes and landfill, and several studies have quantified anthropogenic contamination effects on groundwater composition (Rosenthal et al 1992;Vengosh and Keren 1996;Andreasen and Fleck 1997;DeSimone et al 1997;Hern and Feltz 1998;Glen et al 1999;Mitchel et al 2000;Hao and Change 2002;Trojan et al 2003;Murad and Krishnamurthy 2004;Brink et al 2007). Navarro and Carbonell (2007) studied the groundwater contamination beneath an urban environment in Spain and reported that high concentration of NO 3 , Ca, Mg, Ni, Pb, Zn and organic micropollutants originated from septic tank effluents, domestic sewage and industrial wastewater.…”