Abstract
Brackish water has been utilized extensively in agriculture around the world to cope with the global water deficit, but soil salt accumulation caused by brackish water irrigation cannot be ignored. Straw incorporation has been confirmed an effective sustainable means to inhibit soil salt accumulation. An experiment was conducted in growth tanks over two consecutive growing seasons to investigate the effects of wheat straw incorporation on soil moisture and salinity under brackish water irrigation (5g NaCl L−1). Furthermore, the trial investigated the effects of three wheat straw cutting lengths (CK = 0 cm; L1 = 5 cm, L2 = 10 cm, and L3 = 20 cm) on soil water-salt dynamics and summer maize growth. The results showed that soil properties and maize yields were favorably and significantly affected by the shorter straw segments incorporated into the cultivated field (p < 0.05), as indicated in the decrease in soil bulk density (7.47%–7.79%) and the rise of soil organic matter (SOM) content (2.4–4.5g kg−1) and soil total porosity (4.34%–4.72%) under treatment L1. Meanwhile, treatment L1 produced the greatest dry above-ground biomass (14447 ± 571 kg ha−1), 100-grain weight (34.52 ± 1.20 g) and grain yield (7251 ± 204 kg ha−1) of summer maize. Soil water content in the cultivated layer increased 4.79%–25.44%, and the soil salt accumulation rate decreased significantly due to the straw incorporation and the highest value of soil moisture content (19.10%–21.84%), as well as the lowest value of soil salt accumulation rates (2.12–9.06) obtained at treatment L1. Straw incorporation with cutting length in 5 cm is the optimal choice for alleviating the adverse effects due to brackish water irrigation and improving soil properties, which could be helpful for agricultural mechanization and straw field-returning practices.
Highlights
Freshwater has long played an important role in sustainable agricultural development and crop growth throughout history; the consumption of freshwater in agriculture accounts for about 75%around the world [1,2]
The results in the present study were in agreement with the previous studies, which found that the soil moisture of the cultivated layer could be increased due to straw incorporation [39]
The results in the two-year experiment suggested that straw incorporation was an effective practice to inhibit salt accumulation in the cultivated soil layer, promote the soil properties and increase the summer maize yield under the condition of brackish water irrigation
Summary
Freshwater has long played an important role in sustainable agricultural development and crop growth throughout history; the consumption of freshwater in agriculture accounts for about 75%around the world [1,2]. With the acceleration of urban modernization and the increasing population, more water, especially freshwater, is used for traditional industrial and other high and new technology industrial productions; less freshwater used in agriculture and larger populations will lead people to suffer a serious food crisis [3,4]. Facing an extreme shortage of freshwater used for agricultural irrigation, more countries and regions have joined in the promotion of water-saving irrigation technology, such as drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation and micro-irrigation, in order to ensure the sustainable development. There is a 20 billion m3 a−1 brackish water resource stored underground in China, of which about. Using brackish water for agricultural irrigation is common in regions such as the North China Plain, where there is a freshwater deficit [14]. Brackish water is significantly more trustworthy compared to the wastewater generated by urban life and industry, which contains a variety of potential toxic elements, heavy metals, pathogenic viruses, bacteria and so on that can pose damage to the natural environment and cause harm to public health [15]
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