“Irrigating with salty water”

Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies Prof. Dr. Mustafa Erayman stated that the low levels of rainfall in the country and the saltiness of the irrigation water cause losses in farming, and pointed out the importance of maintaining a salinity balance at irrigation and basin levels which will prevent the accumulation of saline water around the roots of plants for sustainable agricultural production.    

Erayman noted that if the salinity in the irrigation water exceeds the threshold values, the plant will suffer from drought stress even if there is excessive irrigation, and this situation will manifest itself especially in germination, and this lead to  a farming season that ends with agricultural retardation as well as a big loss in agricultural products.

Prof. Dr. Erayman stated that timely use, water table management, preservation of rainwater and chemical remediation of salty/alkaline waters are important applications in balancing the salinity values in irrigation water.

Noting that each plant has a certain salinity and toxic limit value, Erayman stated that these are classified in three categories:  less salty than alkaline waters, moderately salty and highly salty.

Erayman pointed out that excessive fertilization in undrained soils, flood irrigation combined with the rapid evaporation cycle of the hot and dry season can cause the soil to become salty very quickly, "In such cases, desalination of water can be very expensive, and productivity can be very low," he added.

Erayman said that there was no yield loss at 400 mS/m EC salinity value in barley, but 10% loss was experienced when this rate was 490 mS/m. He underlined that the loss of agricultural productivity is very severe reaching 25% when it is 630 mS/m and above. 

Erayman also gave some information about methods to solve this issue and said, “Washing the soil with alkaline water, growing crops suitable to the topography of the land, using furrow, drip or underground irrigation instead of flood irrigation.  There are other solutions such as adding gypsum, acidic fertilizers, animal manure and humic acid to the soil, growing salt-tolerant plants, planting on the sides instead of the furrow, and using foliar fertilizers.”