Irrigation Induced Salinity and Sodicity Hazards on Soil and Groundwater: An Overview of Its Causes, Impacts and Mitigation Strategies

Aadhityaa Mohanavelu, Sujay Raghavendra Naganna and Nadhir Al-Ansari
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Aadhityaa Mohanavelu: Department of Civil Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritangar, Coimbatore 641 112, India
Sujay Raghavendra Naganna: Department of Civil Engineering, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumakuru 572 103, India
Nadhir Al-Ansari: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, 97187 Lulea, Sweden

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: Salinity and sodicity have been a major environmental hazard of the past century since more than 25% of the total land and 33% of the irrigated land globally are affected by salinity and sodicity. Adverse effects of soil salinity and sodicity include inhibited crop growth, waterlogging issues, groundwater contamination, loss in soil fertility and other associated secondary impacts on dependent ecosystems. Salinity and sodicity also have an enormous impact on food security since a substantial portion of the world’s irrigated land is affected by them. While the intrinsic nature of the soil could cause soil salinity and sodicity, in developing countries, they are also primarily caused by unsustainable irrigation practices, such as using high volumes of fertilizers, irrigating with saline/sodic water and lack of adequate drainage facilities to drain surplus irrigated water. This has also caused irreversible groundwater contamination in many regions. Although several remediation techniques have been developed, comprehensive land reclamation still remains challenging and is often time and resource inefficient. Mitigating the risk of salinity and sodicity while continuing to irrigate the land, for example, by growing salt-resistant crops such as halophytes together with regular crops or creating artificial drainage appears to be the most practical solution as farmers cannot halt irrigation. The purpose of this review is to highlight the global prevalence of salinity and sodicity in irrigated areas, highlight their spatiotemporal variability and causes, document the effects of irrigation induced salinity and sodicity on physicochemical properties of soil and groundwater, and discuss practical, innovative, and feasible practices and solutions to mitigate the salinity and sodicity hazards on soil and groundwater.

Keywords: salinity; sodicity; irrigation; soil fertility; groundwater; bio-drainage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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