Reclamation and management of water-logged saline soils
Waterlogged saline soils characterized by shallow water table ( 4 dS m−1) in the root zone depth are encountered in irrigated lands of major and medium irrigation projects. Nonwaterlogged saline soils, encountered in areas where poor quality ground water is used for irrigation, have similar characteristics but the water table is deep. The productivity in both cases goes down over the years, ultimately the soils going out of cultivation. Both kinds of soils spread over an area of 2.73 million ha are amenable to reclamation. The current paper describes the components of reclamation and management package to reclaim waterlogged saline lands. The same package albeit the subsurface drainage component is valid for non-waterlogged saline lands. Guidelines to implement reclamation package comprising of subsurface drainage, on-farm development and leaching are discussed. Various components of the management package comprising of crop management, soil management, irrigation water management, chemical management and rainwater management are included with appropriate data on crop tolerance. Results of pilot area research where proposed reclamation and management package were introduced reveal that the package is capable to control water table, lower soil ECe and improve crop yields for all test crops. Specific examples of rice, wheat and cotton, the three most important crops of the region are included showing more than 100% increase in crops yield at several places. Cropping intensity increased at all the sites, at several places going up from 0.0 before reclamation to 200% after the introduction of package. The cost of the package on an average is Rs. 55,000 ha−1. The Benefit-Cost Ratio varies from 1.2 to 3.5 while payback period in most cases is 3–5 years. Since similar conditions prevail in southwest Punjab, the package has the potential to alleviate problems of water logging and soil salinity in this region. A long-term master plan needs to be developed to fight the twin menaces.