Development of practical site-specific management methods for reclaiming salt-affected soil

Sustaining irrigated agricultural production systems in semi-arid and and regions requires consideration of with saline and sodic soil conditions. The spatial variability of these conditions makes soil reclamation an ideal practice in which to apply site-specific management (SSM). We discuss an application of SSM in which preliminary measurements of apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) supplemented by ECa-directed soil sampling, are used to construct a GIS map of salinity zones on which site-specific amendment application can be based. Our primary objective was to develop a field-implementable methodology for site-specific soil amendment application. The focus of the program was on cotton production, although the method should be applicable to other crops. A second objective was to establish experiments to test the effectiveness of this program. Evaluating the effectiveness of a sprinkler application for the first irrigation was incorporated as a part of this program in hopes of reducing variability due to poor germination. This study consisted of two commercial fields located in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Based on the consideration that ECa is directly related to electrical conductivity from soil saturation paste extract (ECe) for known saline-sodic conditions, we developed a four-step method for site-specific salinity management in commercial fields. The steps included the following: (1) generation of an ECa map; (2) directed soil sampling for ECe; (3) determination of the estimated amendment requirement as a function of location in the field; and (4) integration of the individual amendment requirements into a practical spatial pattern for amendment application. Cotton yield monitors were utilized to indicate spatial yield variation throughout the replicated plots instead of aggregated yield values. Because of the high levels of variability in these commercial fields and the time required for amendments to have a substantial effect, we can provide only short-term results of these experiments. In both of the experiments no significant differences existed between the irrigation and amendment treatments (p > 0.05), but increased yield trends supported the benefit of sprinkler application of the first irrigation. A Scheffe test of the cotton yield monitor data indicated significant yield differences between in-plot treatment zones. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.