Land and Water Resources Development

Course Code: AE705

Credits: 3

Sudipto Sarkar
Assistant Professor
Department of Agricultural Engineering
Assam University, Silchar - 788011
Salt Problems in Soil and
Water
 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
• The development of saline soils is a natural
process in arid regions where water tables are
near the soil surface.
• Large areas have become saline from irrigation
and from saline seeps as a result of summer
fallowing.
• When sodium is an important component of the
salt, a significant amount of adsorbed sodium
may occur and may disperse soil colloids and
develop undesirable physical properties.
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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
• The quantity, proportion, and nature of salts
that are present may vary in saline and sodic
soils.
• This gives rise to three kinds of soils:
saline,
sodic, and
saline-sodic.

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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
Saline Soils:
• Soils containing excess amount of water soluble
salts are called saline soils.
• The concentration of salt in the root-zone of
soil, goes so high that it badly affects plant
growth. Looking from a distant place, these soils
give a milky white or whitish-grey appearance.
• Therefore, sometimes these soils are also
referred to as 'white alkali soils’.

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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
Saline Soils:
• Salt concentration of these soils is expressed in
terms of electrical conductivity (unit –m
mhos/cm).
• Electrical conductivity of saline soils is always
more than 4 millimhos/centimeter.
• Their pH (soil reaction), is more than 7 but
always less than 8.5.

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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
Saline Soils:
• Reclamation of saline soils requires the removal
of salt by leaching and maintenance of the water
table far enough below the soil surface to
minimize upward capillary water flow.
• It is feared that introduction of new irrigation
projects, canal irrigation system, etc. may lead
to increase in salinity problem, especially if
proper soil management and arrangement of
drainage system is not made.
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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
Sodic/Alkaline Soils
• Sodic soils have been called alkaline soils.
• Sodic soils are nonsaline and have an adsorbed
or exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) of 15
or more.
• The adsorbed cations (sodium, calcium,
magnesium, and potassium) are considered
exchangeable, because they compete for
adsorption on the negatively charged soil
colloids (clay and humus), are in motion, and
exchange sites with each other.
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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
Sodic/Alkaline Soils
• The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of a soil-
saturated paste extract is about equal to the
ESP.
• A SAR of 13 or more is the same as ESP of 15 or
more.
• The pH is usually in the range of 8.5 to 10.0.
• Sodium dissociates from the colloids and small
amounts of sodium carbonate form.

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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
Saline-Alkaline Soils
• The basis for treatment of sodic soil is the
replacement of exchangable sodium with calcium
and conversion of any sodium carbonate into
sodium sulfate.
• Finely ground gypsum is broadcast and mixed
with the soil.
• The calcium replaces or exchanges for the
sodium adsorbed on the negatively charged
colloid surfaces.
• The amount of gypsum needed to replace the
exchangeable sodium is the gypsum requirement.
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 Salt Problems in Agricultural Land
Saline-alkali soils:
 These soils contain all types of salts including
sodium salt.
 Electrical conductivity of these soils is more
than 4 m.mhos/cm and pH more than 8.5.
 They also develop a hard pan in sub-soil.
 They are grey in colour.

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 Characteristics of Soil

Electrical
Sl. Exch. of sod.
Soil Conductivity pH
No. (%)
(mmhos/cm)

1 Saline soil >4 >15 <8.5

2 Alkali soil <4 >15 >8.5

Saline-alkali
3 >4 >15 >8.5
soil

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 Characteristics of Soil
 These main groups of salt-affected soils differ not only
in their chemical characteristics but also in their
geographical and geochemical distribution, as well as in
their physical and biological properties.
 The categories also require different approaches for
their reclamation and agricultural utilization.
 In nature the various sodium salts do not occur
absolutely separately, but in most cases either the
neutral salts or the ones capable of alkaline hydrolysis
exercise a dominant role on the soil-forming processes
and therefore in determining soil properties.
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 Mode of formation
Saline soils
 Use of saline groundwater: When groundwater is the
only source available for irrigation, high salinity of the
irrigation water can cause a build up of salts in the root
zone, particularly if the internal drainage of the soils is
restricted and leaching, either due to rainfall or applied
irrigation, is inadequate.

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 Mode of formation
Saline soils
 Saline seeps, are the result of excessive leaching that
results from reduced evapotranspiration after a change
in land use from natural forest vegetation to a cereal
grain crop or a shift in cropping pattern such as the
introduction of a fallow season in a grain farming
system. The percolating water passing through saline
sediments is intercepted by impermeable horizontal
layers and conducted laterally to landscape depressions
causing extensive soil salinization.

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 Mode of formation
Saline soils
 Sea Water Intrusion: Salinity problems are also
caused by the ingress of sea water through tidal waves,
underground aquifers or through wind transport of salt
spray. Soluble salts have also been continually
exchanged between land and sea - most transfer of
salts from the sea taking place through the uplift of
marine sediments and exposure on the earth’s surface.

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 Mode of formation
Saline soils
 Excess Irrigation: In every river basin, prior to the
introduction of irrigation, there exists a water balance
between the rainfall on the one hand and stream flow,
groundwater level and evaporation and transpiration on
the other. This balance is disturbed when large
additional quantities of water are artificially spread on
the land for agriculture. Salinization problems can be
more severe when the salinity of groundwater is high,
as is usually the case in arid regions.

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 Mode of formation
Saline soils
 Localized redistribution of salts can often cause
salinity problems of a significant magnitude. Soluble
salts move from areas of higher to lower elevations,
from relatively wet to dry areas, from irrigated fields
to adjacent unirrigated fields, etc. Salts may also
accumulate in areas with restricted natural drainage
caused by the construction of roads and rail lines or
other developmental activities. Evaporation of stagnant
waters may leave considerable amounts of salts on the
soil surface.
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 Mode of formation
Sodic soils
 Groundwater containing carbonate and bicarbonate is
one of the chief contributing factors in the formation
of sodic soils in many regions.
 The soils are reported to have formed by desalinization
in the absence of enough divalent cations, by high
carbonate and bicarbonate water and by denitrification
and sulphate reduction under anaerobic conditions.
 Reduction of sulphate ions under anaerobic conditions
and in the presence of organic matter was reported to
result in the formation of sodium carbonate.
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 Mode of formation
Sodic soils
 The alternate wet and dry seasons and the topographic
(drainage) conditions appeared to be the contributing
factors in the formation of vast areas of sodic soils in
the Indo-Gangetic plains of India.
 During the wet season water containing products of
alumino-silicate weathering accumulated in the low lying
areas.

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 Mode of formation
Sodic soils
 In the ensuing dry season, as a result of evaporation,
the soil solution is concentrated resulting in some
precipitation of the divalent cations, causing an
increase in the proportion of sodium ions in the soil
solution and on the exchange complex with simultaneous
increase in pH.
 This process repeated over years resulted in the
formation of sodic soils.

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 Principle ions present in water
 The composition of salts in water varies according to
the source and properties of the constituent chemical
compounds.
 These salts include substances such as gypsum (calcium
sulphate, CaSO4.2H2O), table salt (sodium chloride
NaCl) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3).
 When dissolved in water, salts separate into ions; e.g.
sodium chloride breaks down into sodium and chloride
ions.
 Thus, it is customary to refer to ions rather than salts.

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 Principle ions present in water

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 Causes of Salt Build-up in Irrigated Soils
 The main causes for the development of salinity and
alkalinity in soils are:
a) use of saline irrigation water,
b) deposition of salts on soil surface from high sub-
soil water table,
c) seepage from the canals,
d) arid climate,
e) poor drainage, and
f) back water flow or intrusion of sea water in coastal
areas.

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 Causes of Salt Build-up in Irrigated Soils
 These factors either singly or in association with other
factors, are responsible for development of saline and
alkali soils.
 The major processes involved in the development of soil
salinity in irrigated areas are transpiration, evaporation
and poor drainage.
 The management of salt problem before irrigation and
during irrigation are equally important.

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 Reclamation of Salt-affected Soils
 Management of salt-affected soils requires a
combination of agronomic practices and socioeconomic
considerations.
 For instance, reclamation of saline soils may begin with
the provision of effective drainage and good quality
irrigation water to lower the levels of soluble salts.
 Some saline-sodic and sodic soils can be reclaimed by
adding gypsum (CaSO4), followed by leaching out of the
sodium.

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 Reclamation of Salt-affected Soils

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 Removal of Salts from Soil
 The amount of crop yield reduction depends on such
factors as crop growth, the salt content of the soil,
climatic conditions, etc.
 In extreme cases where the concentration of salts in
the root zone is very high, crop growth may be entirely
prevented.
 To improve crop growth in such soils the excess salts
must be removed from the root zone.
 The term reclamation of saline soils refers to the
methods used to remove soluble salts from the root
zone.
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 Removal of Salts from Soil

 Scraping:
 Removing the salts that have accumulated on the
soil surface by mechanical means has had only a
limited success although many farmers have
resorted to this procedure.
 Although this method might temporarily improve
crop growth, the ultimate disposal of salts still
poses a major problem.

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 Removal of Salts from Soil

 Flushing:
 Washing away the surface accumulated salts by
flushing water over the surface is sometimes used
to desalinize soils having surface salt crusts.
 Because the amount of salts that can be flushed
from a soil is rather small, this method does not
have much practical significance.

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 Removal of Salts from Soil

 Leaching:
 This is by far the most effective procedure for
removing salts from the root zone of soils.
 Leaching is most often accomplished by ponding
fresh water on the soil surface and allowing it to
infiltrate.
 Leaching is effective when the salty drainage water
is discharged through subsurface drains that carry
the leached salts out of the area under
reclamation.

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 Removal of Salts from Soil

 Leaching:
 Leaching may reduce salinity levels in the absence
of artificial drains when there is sufficient natural
drainage, i.e. the ponded water drains without
raising the water table.
 Leaching should preferably be done when the soil
moisture content is low and the groundwater table
is deep.
 Leaching during the summer months is, as a rule,
less effective because large quantities of water are
lost by evaporation.
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 Removal of Salts from Soil

 Leaching:
 The actual choice will however depend on the
availability of water and other considerations.
 In some parts of India for example, leaching is best
accomplished during the summer months because
this is the time when the water table is deepest
and the soil is dry.
 This is also the only time when large quantities of
fresh water can be diverted for reclamation
purposes.

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 Some Definitions

 Cation exchange: Interchange of a cation in

solution with another cation on a surface active
material.
 Cation exchange capacity (CEC): The total
quantity of cations which a soil can absorb by
cation exchange, usually expressed as
milliequivalents per 100 gm. Measured values of
cation exchange capacity depend somewhat on
the method of its determination.

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 Some Definitions

 Electrical Conductivity: It is the reciprocal of

the electrical resistivity. The electrical
resistivity is the resistance, in ohms, of a
conductor, metallic or electrolytic, which is one
cm long and has cross sectional area of 1 cm2.
Hence electrical conductivity is expressed as
reciprocal of ohm-cm or mhos per cm.

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 Some Definitions
 Equivalent Weight: It is the combining capacity of an
element or radical with hydrogen. It is the weight in
grams of an ion or compound that combines with or
replaces one gram of hydrogen.

Atomic weight
Equivalent weight 
Valency

 Equivalent weight of Na+ = 23/1 =23, Ca++ = 40/2 = 20,

Cl- = 35.5/1 = 35.5, SO4-- = 96/2 = 48.
 Milliequivalent weight = Equivalent weight / 1000.

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 Some Definitions
 Exchangeable Cation. A cation that is adsorbed on the
exchange complex and which is capable of being
exchanged with other cations.
 Exchangeable Sodium Percentage (ESP). It is the
degree of saturation of the soil exchange complex with
sodium and may be calculated by the formula:

Exchangeable sodium (milliequivalents per 100 gm of soil)

ESP   100
Cation exchange capacity (milliequivalents per 100 gm of soil)

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 Some Definitions
 Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR): A ratio for soil
extracts and irrigation waters used to express the
relative activity of sodium ions in exchange reactions
with soil.

SAR 
 Na  

Ca 2
   Mg  / 22

 The ionic concentrations are expressed in

milliequivalents per litre.

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 Some Definitions
 Leaching Requirement: Leaching requirement is used
primarily under steady state or long time average
conditions.
 The salts that accumulate in the soil can be effectively
removed only by leaching. For this to occur, enough
water must enter the surface to produce downward
percolation and outflow of drainage water from the
root zone.
 The extra amount of this water in addition to the
irrigation dose is called the leaching requirement (LR),
and can be estimated exactly with the use of the
equation
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 Some Definitions
LR = ECw ÷ 5 (ECe) - ECw
where LR is the leaching requirements as a fraction of the
irrigation dose, and ECe is the permissible level of salinity
in the soil solution primarily related to the salt tolerance
of the crop grown at a 100 percent yield potential.
The average value usually taken for ECe is 1.5 ECw. In this
case, LR = 0.15.

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 Some Definitions
Leaching is especially necessary as a soil preparation for
crops with high plant density, such as carrots, onions and
groundnuts.
The salinity over the entire area should be the same with
no difference between the wetted and the non-wetted
parts of the field during the preceding season.
The leaching of the salts in the top layer is particularly
important because crops are sensitive to salinity during
the first stages of their growth.

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 Some Definitions
Problem-1.
Express 6400 ppm salt concentration in micromhos,
millimhos and mhos/cm.
Solution.
Salt concentration, mg/l or ppm = 640 x EC mmhos/cm.
EC = ppm/640 = 6400/640 = 10 millimhos/cm = 10 x 1000 =
10, 000 micro mhos/cm = 10/1000 = 0.01 mhos/cm.

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 Some Definitions
Problem-2.
Express 1170 ppm sodium chloride salt concentration in
meq/lit.
Solution.
ppm/Eq. wt = meq/l, Equivalent weight of sodium chloride
= 58.45
Salt concentration = 1170 / 58.5 = 20 meq / l.

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 Thank You

Best of Luck for your Internals