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 in:	Ciencia del suelo Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 265 - 269
Main Authors:	Zalba, Pablo, Garay, Maximiliano, Amiotti, Nilda, Ares, Adrian
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	Portuguese
Published:	Asociación Argentina de la Ciencia del Suelo 01-12-2013
Subjects:	SOIL SCIENCE Field soil salinity Saturated paste Pasta saturada Salinidad del suelo
Online Access:	Get full text
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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