Improved Field Method For Estimating Soil Salinity

Soil salinity is a worldwide limitation for agriculture productivity and simplified procedures to assess salinity are needed. In this study, an efficient method for estimating electrical conductivity (EC) on a saturation extract (ECex) from readings in saturated soil-paste to assess soil salinity wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCiencia del suelo Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 265 - 269
Main Authors Zalba, Pablo, Garay, Maximiliano, Amiotti, Nilda, Ares, Adrian
Format Journal Article
LanguagePortuguese
Published Asociación Argentina de la Ciencia del Suelo 01.12.2013
Subjects
SOIL SCIENCE
Field soil salinity
Saturated paste
Pasta saturada
Salinidad del suelo
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Summary:Soil salinity is a worldwide limitation for agriculture productivity and simplified procedures to assess salinity are needed. In this study, an efficient method for estimating electrical conductivity (EC) on a saturation extract (ECex) from readings in saturated soil-paste to assess soil salinity was improved. EC values measured in a saturation extract (ECex) were compared with those estimated from a saturated paste (ECest) in 36 texturally- different samples from a broad array of soils with halophyte and glycophyte vegetation in the semiarid region of Argentina. The ECest values were very close to ECex values up to 8 dS m-1, at greater values, estimates tended to diverge from observed values. Determination of EC in a saturated soil-paste is a simple and rapid procedure resulting in an accurate estimation of EC in the saturated extract as indicated by the high degree of predictability (r²= 0.95; P< 0.01). In addition, the pH measured in the saturated paste was a good predictor of soil pH, and closely approximated the pH determined in a 1:2.5 soil: water mixture.
ISSN:1850-2067