Soil salinity threatens agricultural productivity and long-term soil health, but innovative, nature-based solutions exist, regenerative ag advocates say.
Tag Archives Salinity
Focus on soil health can arm against salinity
Soil health speakers urge farmers to avoid bare ground, test with soil health in mind
Leaching dollars: Salinity and high-value crops
Salinity can only be managed, not fixed, so every acre is not a soybean acre
Manitoba’s weather patterns leave fields at risk for salinity to rear its head. Salinity is a water problem, not a salt problem, said Manitoba Agriculture soil management specialist Marla Riekman. It’s a symptom of big variation in water table levels, wherein rising water brings up dissolved minerals, only to orphan them high in the soil
No washing away salinity risk
The same hydrology that made drought a salinity issue also causes problems the other way
Farmers thinking that this year’s rains might wash away the salinity problems they faced during last year’s drought need to think again. Marla Riekman, a soil management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says that while it might seem counterintuitive, as things dry out in wet years like this, salinity tends to get worse. “With salinity, we
Plan now for a salty spring
Manitoba’s dry conditions have done little to beat back salinity in areas prone to the issue
Snow wasn’t the only white creeping across Manitoba’s fields this spring, and unlike snow, this white stuff won’t be melting away. High salinity is not a surprising topic for provincial soil specialist Marla Riekman, given the province’s still-dry conditions and the rise in salinity questions she’s fielded from producers in the last few years. Salinity
Salt of the earth
Salinity exists in Manitoba, but producers might not be aware of it until it's too late
Switching from forages to soybeans is one way to see if you’ve got saline soil, but it’s not the method Marla Riekman recommends. The provincial land management specialist told producers attending Manitoba Ag Days that testing is the only surefire way to learn what kind of salinity you have on your farm, although there are
Saline soils, plant growth problems linked to tillage practices
Research on saline soils underway, but at least one cause points to over-tilling
Here in the Red River basin, most fields in crop production are tilled one or more times each year, whether with cultivators, disks or deep tillers. The resulting fields look well cared for — good farming is often associated with well-tilled fields. In many places in the basin, however, farmers are noticing areas of fields
Sea change in salinity heralds shift in rainfall
Singapore/Reuters — Scientists have detected a clear change in salinity of the world’s oceans and have found that the cycle that drives rainfall and evaporation has intensified more than thought because of global warming. The finding published April 20 helps refine estimates of how different parts of the globe will be affected by increased rainfall
Solution for saline areas? Stay off them
Rain is good for saline areas, but the effect is generally temporary, said Tom Jensen of the International Plant Nutrition Institute. Heavy rains wash the salts down deeper, but when the soil dries out, evaporation brings it back to the surface. “The only way to effectively manage salinity is to lower the water table. That’s
Dark French Fries And Salinity Go Hand In Hand
“It dictates that you just can’t grow potatoes in those soils.” – BLAIR GEISEL, GAIA CONSULTING You know there’s something wrong with a potato if the tip of a french fry turns dark when it hits the oil. It’s a phenomenon potato processors hate: a disorder called “sugar-end defect.” The sugar caramelizes, leaving the tip
Iraq To Revive Dead Farmland By Sucking Out Salt
Iraq started flushing excess salinity out of millions of acres of land Dec. 1 in a project aimed at cleansing rivers, breathing new life into dying soils and reviving what was once part of “the fertile crescent.” Though Iraq is wetter and more arable than many of its desert-covered neighbours, centuries of irrigation and overuse
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