Saline-Sodic Soil Leaching Assessment Using Different Amendments under Laboratory Condition

One of the common problems in arid and semi-arid regions of the country is the presence of saline and sodic soils. Therefore, water and soil management is one of the key issues in supplying the food for growing population of the country. In this study, the effect of different treatments on chemical properties of the soil was investigated to reclaminate the saline and sodic soils in Azaranegin, Tabriz. Treatments included sulfuric acid, iron sulfate, sulfur and irrigation water as a control. Also, the amount of amendment materials was investigated. The amendment materials were added to the soil with the rate of 10% and 20%, separately. The results showed that the application of sulfuric acid reduced the amount of Exchangeable Sodium Percentage (ESP) and the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) to less than 60% and 45%, respectively. On the other hand, the results showed that the application of sulfuric acid and iron sulfate reduced the ESP, SAR and ECe values significantly. However, in the case of sulfur application, the mean parameters did not indicate any significant differences with control treatment. Finally, the findings showed that there was a significant difference between 10% and 20% levels of amendment materials, so that the most reduction of these parameters were related to the sulfuric acid with application of 20% level.