Evaluation of empirical desalinization models in saline soils and determining an appropriate model for north-Ahwaz area, Iran

Soil salinization and sodification caused by salt accumulation are the common phenomena that manifest in irrigated agriculture in arid and semiarid regions, and reclamation of salt-affected soils has become an important tool for improving crop production. The irrigated agriculture is suffering severe secondary salinization. A large quantity of irrigated land has been abandoned due to salt accumulation which is threatening local environment and socio-economy. The aims of this research was evaluation of empirical desalinization models of saline soils, and determining the appropriate model for soil reclamation at these sites. For this purpose, two experimental areas (Sl, S2) of north-Ahwaz at Khuzestan province, Iran were selected and four treatments with three replications by series of double rings were applied. The treatments were included 25, 50, 75 and 100 cm water application. It was concluded that 87.12 and 84.54% of initial salinity in pilots S1 and S2 was removed by 100 cm water leaching at one meter layer of soil, respectively. In this study, 18 empirical models were compared by using initial and final values of electrical conductivity (EC) relation to net leaching water depth to soil depth. The results showed that cubic and exponential models were the best models with high correlation and accuracy in pilots S1 and S2, respectively.