Effects of Leaching With Mildly Saline Water on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Saline-Sodic Soil

An experiment of leaching saline-sodic soil with brackish water was conducted for analysis of changes in physical and chemical properties of the soil,such as soil infiltration,bulk density,salt and alkali content,etc.There were two subject soils,slightly salinized soil(SS) and moderately salinized soil(MS),and four treatments,1)CK,2)supplementary irrigation,3)low-rate leaching and 4)high-rate leaching.Results indicate that the infiltration rate of brackish water in Treatment 4 was about 3 times as high as in CK in MS,and about twice in SS.In MS the salt content within the depth of 60 cm was reduced to 1.0 g·kg^-1,and the ESP by 17.4 percentage point,whereas in SS with the depth of 120 cm it was decreased to 0.6 g·kg^-1,and the ESP by 7.9 percentage point.The bulk density of MS and SS reduced by 10.1% and 9.5% respectively,improving the soil conditions significantly.It is hence concluded that the suitable volume of leaching in moderately-and slightly-salinized soils is 400 mm and 150 mm respectively,for amelioration of the local saline-sodic soils.