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Salinity and Plant Productivity

Carter, D.L. (1982) Salinity and Plant Productivity. In: Rechcigl Jr, Miloslav, (ed.) CRC Handbook of Agricultural Productivity. CRC Series in Nutrition and Food, Vol. I. pp. 117-133. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

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Abstract

Plant productivity is limited on an estimated one third of the irrigated land in the
world or approximately 4 x 10⁷ ha by soluble salt accumulations in the soil, often
referred to as soil salinity or salinity. As irrigated agriculture expands, more salinity
problems will develop because there are millions of hectares of potentially irrigable
land that could become saline. Every year new salinity problem areas develop and are
identified. Salinity is the most important problem facing irrigated agriculture, and
solving salinity problems is one of the greatest challenges to agricultural scientists.
Much research has been conducted during the past 30 to 40 years to determine the
relative tolerance of crops to salinity. Most of the salinity tolerance data available
through the early 1960s was compiled into useful relationships by Bernstein in 1964,
and these data have been cited and applied throughout the world. Since then, many
new salinity tolerance studies have been conducted, and many new management practices
have been proposed, evaluated, and some of them practiced to reclaim salt-affected
soils for improved crop production. Recently, Maas and Hoffman evaluated
existing salinity tolerance data for agricultural crops and presented the data graphically
so that the relative tolerance among crops could be easily compared.

Item Type: Book Section
NWISRL Publication Number: 0419
Subjects: Mass Import - unclassified
Depositing User: Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2010 21:55
Last Modified: 31 Jan 2017 20:57
Item ID: 757
URI: https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/757