The Effect of Different Depths of Salty Groundwater on Yield and Soil Salinity of Some Pasture Crops

Abstract

Salinity is one of the most serious environmental factors limiting the yield of plants. Because many crops experience yield losses due to the harmful effects of high salt content in soil and water. The increase in the area of land affected by salt has the potential to create problems in terms of food safety. In this context, it is necessary to develop some cultural practices to prevent or reduce the harmful effects of salinity. This study investigated the effects of salty groundwater at different depths on the yield and soil salinity of some forage crops grown in semi-arid regions for three years. The experiment was conducted using the randomized block split-plot design. The effect of water table depths on the yields of the cultivars in the first year was found to have a statistically significant (p<0.01) effect while it was insignificant in the second year. According to the Duncan test results, it was determined that the H1 (40 cm groundwater depth) treatment in the first year provided the highest yield in all three cultivars and formed the first group (p<0.01) in the Duncan test. The interaction between water table depths and plant species was statistically significant at the p<0.05 level. At the end of the experiment, the salt concentration of the topsoil (40 cm depth) increased significantly (p=0.025) at all water table depths. Moreover, although the sodium adsorption ratio of the inlet water was low, it was determined that the exchangeable sodium percentage of the soils increased significantly at all groundwater levels at the end of the trial.

Keywords

• Forage crops
• Pasture lands
• Festuca elatior
• Lotus strictus
• Puccinella distans
• Groundwater salinity

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