Sustainable Management of Calcareous Saline-Sodic Soil in Arid Environments: The Leaching Process in the Jordan Valley

Abstract

A leaching experiment of calcareous saline-sodic soil was conducted in Jordan Valley and aimed to reduce the soil salinity ≤ 4.0 dS m −1 . The quantification of salt removal from the effective root zone was done using three treatment scenarios. Treatment A contained soil amended with gypsum leaching with fresh water (EC = 1.1 dS m −1 ). Treatments B and C contained nonamended soil, but B was leached with fresh water only while treatment C's soil was washed with saline agricultural drainage water (EC = 8 dS m −1 ) at the start of the experiment and continued with fresh water to reach the desired soil salinity. All treatments were able to reduce the soil salinity to the desired level at the end of the experiment; however, there were clear differences in the salt removal efficiencies among the treatments which were attributed to the presence of direct source of calcium ion. The soil amended with gypsum caused a substantial decline in soil salinity and drainage water's electrical conductivity and drained the water twice as fast as the nonamended soil. It was found that utilizing agricultural drainage water and gypsum as a soil amendment for calcareous saline-sodic soil reclamation can beneficially contribute to sustainable agricultural management in the Jordan Valley.

Feasibility of coal combustion fly ash alone and in combination with gypsum and green manure for reclamation of degraded sodic soils of the Indo‐Gangetic Plains: A mechanism evaluation

“…Wang, Bai, and Yang () also reported that Ca ions supplemented through by‐products of flue gas desulfurisation assisted in the reduction of soil BD by promoting formation of soil aggregates. The improvement in the properties of sodic soil with the addition of GR, FA, and GM did influence and minimise soil ESP and decrease pH as also noted by the previous studies (Batarseh, ; Ors et al, ; Shirale, Kharche, Zadode, Meena, & Rajendiran, ). The reason for decrease in soil pH in our study is attributed to iron and aluminium sesquioxides contained in feed coal (Kutchko & Kim, ; Moreno et al, ) that hydrolyse to form ionisable acids.…”

Efficient rhizobacteria promote growth and alleviate NaCl-induced stress in the plant species Sulla carnosa

“…Previous studies showed that rhizobacteria isolated from plants grown in arid and semi-arid areas are often adapted to adverse detrimental conditions and have the potential to promote plant growth under various environmental stresses (Ashraf et al, 2010;Dodd and Perez-Alfocea et al, 2012). Biological methods, such as salt-tolerant plants and microbial bacterial strains, were reported to be effective in reclaiming salt-affected areas (Batarseh, 2017). The use of green manure crops such as salt-tolerant legumes as an alternative strategy to reclaim saline soils results in increase adsorption capacity and nutrient availability, and improved soil physico-chemical properties (Ashraf et al, 2010).…”

Improvement of the chemical properties and buffering capacity of coastal sandy soil as affected by clays and organic by-product application

“…The treatment of ITD2 increased the buffering capacity of the coastal sandy soil so that the K + leaching decreased. The use of tapioca dregs also offers environmental advantages by reducing (+) indicates there is an interaction effect; the values in the same column with the same letter are not significantly different at P < 0.05; the mean followed by the same superscript letters are not significantly different according to the orthogonal contrast at P < 0.05; SC -soil conditioner; I -Inceptisol; V -Vertisol; T1 -tapioca 1%; T2 -tapioca 2%; TD1 -tapioca dregs 1%; TD2 -tapioca dregs 2%; P1 -PVA 0.1%; P2 -PVA 0.2%; C -control; initial Ca 2+ = Ca 2+ derived from sandy soil+clay+polymers; residual Ca 2+ = initial Ca 2+ -leached Ca 2+ +) or (-) indicates there is an interaction or no interaction effect; the values in the same column with the same letter are not significantly different at P < 0.05; the Mean followed by the same superscript letters are not significantly different according to orthogonal contrast at P < 0.05; SC -soil conditioner; I -Inceptisol; V -Vertisol; T1 -tapioca 1%; T2 -tapioca 2%; TD1 -tapioca dregs 1%; TD2 -tapioca dregs 2%; P1 -PVA 0.1%; P2 -PVA 0.2%; (Jones et al 2012;Mahmoodabadi et al 2013;Zhang et al 2015;Batarseh 2017). The high mobility causes Na + to be easily carried away by the movement of the vertical water flow (Mahmoodabadi et al 2013;Wang et al 2016).…”