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SALINITY AND DRAINAGE
Crop Selection - Crop selection is a major management decision. Some crops, such as barley and cotton, can be grown on salty soil without large yield reductions. Other crops, such as almonds and onions, will have significant yield reductions when grown on soils with fairly low salt concentrations. Figure SD-3 indicates the average ECe of the root zone that will cause yield reductions due to soil salinity for selected crops. If your soil tests indicate ECe's over those indicating substantial yield declines in Figure SD-3 for the crop you would like to grow, consider some other until you can reduce the salt concentrations in that field.
Figure SD-3: Crop Sensitivity
Salts can be managed by crop rotation so that they do not concentrate in the upper portion of the root zone. It can be difficult to apply additional water for leaching during the growing season for crops which have high ET requirements, such as cotton or alfalfa. Thus, some salts may start to accumulate in the root zone when growing these crops. However, additional water for leaching can be applied when winter crops with a low ET are grown in the rotation. The excess deep percolation will drive the salts below the effective root zone.
Crops can be used to manage salinity. Some crops, such as cotton, can use upwards flow of water from a shallow water table, even very poor quality water. This will lower the perched water table and make room for water used to leach salts from the upper portion of the soil profile allowing a more salt-sensitive crop such as tomatoes to the planted. .
Last updated September 2000