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Effects of Supplemental Irrigation with Saline Water on Soil Composition and on Yields and Cation Content of Forage Crops¹

ABSTRACT

Dilutions of synthetic sea water were used for supplemental irrigation on small plots containing alfalfa, Kentucky 31 Fescue, orchardgrass, and ladino clover. One treatment irrigated with nonsaline water and a nonirrigated control were also included. Significant increases in yield due to irrigation were obtained in only a few instances during the second through fourth year of study, but during the first year two of the four cuttings of all four crops responded to supplemental irrigation. Where several irrigations were applied, yields tended to decrease with increasing salinity, with ladino clover being the most sensitive of the four crops tested. Soil salinity increased to EC_e values as high as 15.4 mmho. per cm. (electrical conductivity of the saturation extract) as a result of saline irrigation. The Ca, Mg, and K content of all four crops were relatively unaffected by soil salinity. The Na content of all plants tended to increase with increasing salinity, with the greatest accumulation occurring in the ladino clover. Exchangeable Ca decreased and Mg, Na, and K increased with increasing salt concentration of the water applied.

¹ Contribution from the Soil and Water Conservation Research Division, ARS, USDA, in cooperation with the Virginia Truck Exp. Sta., Norfolk. Presented before Div. S-6, Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Denver, Colo., Nov. 18–21, 1963.

² Soil Scientists, USDA, Norfolk, Virginia.

Received for publication December 9, 1963. Accepted for publication March 24, 1964.