Abstract

BACKGROUND: During the off-season, the cultivation of Chinese cabbage and water dropwort is often used to desalinize plastic film house soils. The objective of this study was to verify the effect of double-cropping systems on the salt removal in oriental melon cultivated plastic film house soils. METHODS AND RESULTS: Electrical conductivity (EC) and soluble salt contents were measured in soils collected from plastic film houses of oriental melon cultivation before and after the off-season crop cultivation. Also the same measurements were performed in the next oriental melon season to estimate the desalinization effect of double-cropping systems. During the cultivation of Chinese cabbage under open-field condition, ECe of surface soil was reduced from 6.0 to 0.8 dS/m. Double-cropping of water dropwort in flooded soil was also efficient in removing the salts accumulated during oriental melon cultivation. In the house soils where salts were removed during the off-season crop cultivation, soil ECe was maintained below 3 dS/m during the next oriental melon cultivation season. CONCLUSION: The off-season cropping under open-field or flooded condition was effective in desalinization of plastic film house soils. Since the salt removal effect is not expected to last for several years, the double-cropping system should be introduced every season to maintain soil EC below the critical level.

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