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Effects of saline water irrigation on soil salinity and yield of winter wheat–maize in North China Plain

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Irrigation and Drainage Systems

Abstract

Drought and fresh water shortage are in the way of sustainable agriculture development in the North China Plain. The scarcity of fresh water forces farmers to use shallow saline ground water, which helps to overcome drought and increase crop yields but also increases the risk of soil salinization. This paper describes salt regimes and crop responses to saline irrigation water based on field experiments conducted from October 1997 to September 2005. It was found that use of saline water causes the ECe of the topsoil (0–100 cm, Cv: 0.196∼0.330) to be higher and more variable than the subsoil (100–180 cm, Cv: 0.133∼0.219). The salt load rapidly increased, notably in the upper 80 cm and especially during the season of October 1999 to June 2000. It was concluded that the maximum soil depth to which the soil was leached during the wet season was about 150 cm. The relative yields of winter wheat could be ranked Fresh Sufficient (FS, 100%) > Fresh Limited (FL, 91.80%) > Saline Sufficient (SS, 91.63%) > Saline Limited (SL, 88.28%) > Control (C, 69.58%) and for maize FS (100%) > FL (96.37%) > SS (93.05%) > SL (90.04%)> C (89.81%). The best irrigation regime was Saline Limited for winter wheat and maize, provided rainfall is sufficient. The experiments confirm that saline irrigation water appears to be economically attractive to farmers in the short term and ecological hazards can still be controlled with proper leaching.

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Abbreviations

C:

Control

FL:

Fresh Limited

FS:

Fresh Sufficient

JS:

the beginning of June to the end of September

MM:

The beginning of March to the end of May

OF:

The beginning of the October to the end of the following February

SL:

Saline Limited

SS:

Saline Sufficient

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Acknowledgements

The authors are greatly indebted to the National Basic Research Program of China (2005CB121103) as well as to the SAIL Foundation of NUFFIC (SAIL-SPP 299.399), the Netherlands for the financial support given to this research. We furthermore like to thank two unknown reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environment, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Wenjun Ma & Zhenrong Yu

  2. Chinese Institute of Land Survey and Planning, Xicheng, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Zhenqiang Mao

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands

    M. E. F. van Mensvoort & P. M. Driessen

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  1. Wenjun Ma
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  2. Zhenqiang Mao
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  3. Zhenrong Yu
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  4. M. E. F. van Mensvoort
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  5. P. M. Driessen
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Correspondence to Zhenrong Yu.

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Ma, W., Mao, Z., Yu, Z. et al. Effects of saline water irrigation on soil salinity and yield of winter wheat–maize in North China Plain. Irrig Drainage Syst 22, 3–18 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10795-007-9027-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10795-007-9027-1

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