Use of Saline Water/Industrial Effluents in Diverse Crop Interventions in Vertisols

Abstract

With the rapid development of the global economy, the expansion of urban areas, and the increase of annual industrial and municipal water consumption, the imbalance between supply and demand of water resources is becoming a more and more serious problem around the world. Soil and irrigation water salinity are the two major constraints in agricultural production in arid and semiarid regions, and the impact of these two is more pronounced in the Vertisol regions. Vertisols, because of their physical constraints such as low hydraulic conductivity, poor infiltration rates, very high swelling clay minerals, and narrow workable moisture range, pose serious constraints in crop production even at low salinity. The above constraints also hinder drainage measures to a large extent, and thus tackling salinity problems in Vertisols solely lies on location-specific soil, crop, and water management strategies. These soils with subsurface salinity and saline groundwater need crop-based irrigation strategies and conjunctive use of saline groundwater along with soil management approaches. While highly saline soils can be brought under cultivation of economic halophytes such as trees like Salvadora persica and forages, conjunctive use of saline groundwater with surface water forms an ideal approach for oilseed crops, fiber crops like cotton, and seed spices. An alternative approach, i.e., the use of the industrial (treated) effluent from fertilizer and petrochemical units in diverse crop interventions like forages, oilseed crops, flowering plants, and biofuel species, is also feasible and also highlighted. These approaches clearly suggest that the use of saline groundwater and the treated effluent while enhancing the crop productivity also results in significant water savings.