Salinization and drainage problems of agricultural land

Abstract

The extension of irrigated agriculture is essential to fulfilling the mounting demand for food and fibre from a growing population which is anticipated to reach about 10 billion individuals in 2050. Lacking the necessary drainage, this extension can bring about salinization issues in irrigated regions. Continuous irrigation over many years with no adequate drainage services has led to huge agricultural regions becoming unproductive. Salinization problems linked to poor drainage are widespread in agricultural zones over the world. The aforementioned drainage-related salinization issues in agricultural land have been solved by using various methods and techniques. This paper presents an assessment of some non-conventional methods and strategies utilized for dealing with salinization and drainage issues of irrigated land. An indication of the drainage and salinization issues of irrigated areas and the significance of the study are given. Reasoning and foundation of the issues are presented. Numerical and analytical solutions of the problems are described. The drainage water management technique for managing nutrient losses from a drainage system is discussed. The analysis revealed that conjunctive water use with an increased groundwater proportion can to some extent manage the salinization and root-zone submergence problems of irrigated areas. K E Y W O R D S agricultural sustainability, conjunctive water use, drainage of irrigated land, drainage water management, land salinization Résumé L'extension de l'agriculture irriguée est essentielle pour répondre aux demandes croissantes de nourriture et de fibres pour la population croissante qui devrait contacter une dizaine de milliards d'individus en 2050. Sans des conditions de drainage adaptées, cette extension peut entraîner des problèmes de salinisation dans les régions irriguées. L'irrigation continue pendant de nombreuses années sans services de drainage adéquats a provoqué l'impossibilité à produire pour de vastes régions agricoles. Les problèmes de salinisation liés au mauvais drainage sont répandus dans les zones agricoles du monde entier. Les problèmes de salinisation des terres agricoles liés au * Problèmes de salinisation et de drainage des terres agricoles

Multivariate Analysis for Assessing Irrigation Water Quality: A Case Study of the Bahr Mouise Canal, Eastern Nile Delta

“…The increasing demand for high-quality water for irrigation in Egypt in the last few decades has led to the use of poor-quality water for irrigation purposes in farmland, while the continuous usage of the low-quality water could cause a decline in crop productivity [88][89][90][91][92]. The current study shows that the water of the Bahr Mouise canal was classified as a moderate salinity hazard; this type of water has low limitations and is suitable for most agriculture crops [69].…”

“…Moreover, moderately salt-tolerant plants can be grown in most cases without special management, based on the guidelines for water quality for irrigation presented by the authors of [80]. The water of Bahr Mouise has a low and moderate salinity, but salt accumulation in soil may occur over the long term, and it may cause soil degradation and negatively impact crop productivity [92,93].…”

Assessment of wheat productivity responses and soil health dynamics under brackish ground water

“…Irrigation of crops with brackish water is directly linked with increasing damage to soil health and loss in crop productivity. As continuous use of this water worsen the physical and chemical characteristics of soil with a subsequent decline in plant growth and yield ( Abdelhafez et al, 2020 , Rashash Ali et al, 2015 , Ravikumar et al, 2011 , Singh, 2020 ). Hence, efforts are being carried out to achieve goal of sustainable agricultural development by managing use of brackish water and its influence on soil quality ( He et al, 2017 ).…”

The Issue of Groundwater Salinization in Coastal Areas of the Mediterranean Region: A Review

“…The increasing demand of freshwater, already registered and expect to increase due to CC and the consequent land use changes, has intensified the research on GW salinization, as GW has gained increasing attention as a source of water supply owing to its relatively low vulnerability to pollution in comparison to SW, and its large storage capacity [12]. Even though some comprehensive reviews focusing on the definition, recognition, and monitoring strategies of seawater intrusion (SWI) were already available at the end of the 1990s [13,14], it is above all in the last decade that research on this topic has made enormous strides by deepening not only the understanding of the mechanisms that govern salinization processes [15][16][17][18] but also investigating the effects of salinization of water resources on the surrounding environment [19,20] and recognizing its interaction with human activities [21], thus defining possible adaptive measures and solutions to deal with the actual issues and to face future scenarios [22,23]. In particular, these last studies have emphasized that in the absence of a sustainable water resources management, uncontrolled land-use activities and over exploitation can lead to a relevant and long-lasting deterioration of coastal water resources and ecosystems.…”