Problems of Salinity in Agriculture (Chapter II)

Carter, David L. (1975) Problems of Salinity in Agriculture (Chapter II). In: Poljakoff-Mayber, A. and Gale, J., (eds.) Plants in Saline Environment. Ecological Studies. Analysis and Synthesis, Vol. 15. pp. 25-35. Springer-Verlag, Germany.

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Abstract

Millions of hectares of land throughout the world are too saline to produce
economic crop yields, and more land becomes nonproductive each year because
of salt accumulation. Salinity problems in agriculture are usually confined to arid
and semiarid regions where rainfall is not sufficient to transport salts from the
plant root zone. Such areas comprise 25% of the earth's surface (THORNE and
PETERSON, 1954). Salinity is a hazard on about half of the irrigated area of the
western USA (WADLEIGH, 1968) and crop production is limited by salinity on
about 25% of this land (WADLEIGH, 1968; THORNE and PETERSON, 1954; BOWER
and FIREMAN, 1957). The occurrence of salinity is similar in the arid regions of
western Canada, the high plains of Mexico and the Pacific slopes of South America.
Salt affected soils are also extensive in South Africa, Rhodesia, Egypt, Morocco,
and Tunisia. Only small areas of salt affected soils occur in Europe, but
extensive areas are present in Asia (THORNE and PETERSON, 1954). In general, it
can be concluded that salinity problems are found in all countries having areas
where arid or semiarid climates exist.

Item Type:	Book Section
NWISRL Publication Number:	0273
Subjects:	Mass Import - unclassified
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:54
Last Modified:	17 Feb 2017 18:55
Item ID:	749
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/749