Effect of slight saline water irrigation on soil salinity and yield of crop

Irrigation water for agricultural use is severe shortage in North China Plain. The conflict between water resources lacking and food demand increasing is increasingly sharp. Using slightly saline water resources is one of the important ways to alleviate the conflict. Based on the experiment which focuses on the effect of slightly saline water irrigation on soil salinity and yield of winter wheat and summer maize in Quzhou Experimental Station of China Agricultural University from 1997 to 2005, five treatments (fully irrigated with fresh water, economically irrigated with fresh water, fully irrigated with fresh-saline water, economically irrigated with fresh-saline water and control, i.e., no irrigation) was designed, dynamics of saturated soil electrical conductivity and salt contents under slightly saline water irrigation were studied, and the effects of slightly saline water irrigation on yield of winter wheat and maize were discussed. The results showed that soil water and salinity turn on the short-term and long-term fluctuations which are affected by amounts of irrigation and rainfall and changes of seasons; Generally, it was feasible to irrigate with saline water in field that it would not cause salinization; Compared with the treatment of fully irrigated with fresh, yield of winter wheat and maize decreased by 10%-15% and fresh water saved 60%-75% under the treatment of fully irrigated with fresh-saline water. If rainfall reaches to the normal level and saline water irrigation schedule is rational, the utilization of saline water for winter wheat and maize could be prospective for the sustainable agriculture.