Management of Sodic Waters in Agriculture

Abstract

Sustainable management of the water resources is an international priority to meet the demands of future population for food and fibre. In productive agriculture, irrigation of soils is an important component especially where rainfall is not sufficient to provide enough water for plants to complete their yield cycles. However, increasing competition for water due to rapid urbanization and industrialization is greatly affecting the water supply for irrigated agriculture in many countries. The productivity of irrigated agriculture is low in many parts of the world because of the poor quality of groundwater such as sodic water, which contains high amount of sodium. With increasing salt concentration in the water, decreasing crop yields and deterioration of soil health (physical, chemical and biological properties) have been widely observed. Thus, it is important that long-term irrigation development strategies with poor-quality sodic groundwaters are planned and implemented rationally to sustain yields without any adverse effects on soil health. Rational use of these waters by following site-specific guidelines helps to address the current and future scarcity of irrigation water. Consequently, some latest advances and technologies for utilization of poor-quality sodic waters for irrigation have been deliberated upon in this chapter.