Soil Salinity and Maize Growth under Cycle Irrigation in Coastal Soils

• DOI: 10.2134/agronj2018.10.0684
• Publication Date: 2019-06-27T19:52:03Z
• Authors: Mingyi Huang; Zhanyu Zhang; Zhuping Sheng; Chengli Zhu; Yaming Zhai; Peirong Lu; Debra Brinkman
• Keywords: 0106 biological sciences; 2. Zero hunger; 15. Life on land; 01 natural sciences; 6. Clean water

The coastal regions of eastern China have substantial potential for agricultural production. Freshwater scarcity makes the utilization plentiful brackish water a vital issue in this area. We aim to assess effects cycle irrigation with fresh and on soil salinity maize ( Zea mays L.). A pot experiment was performed two typical soils (sandy loam silt loam) one local cultivar. growing season divided into three phases (development, mid‐, later stage). Cycle conducted using (5 g NaCl L −1 ) during stage freshwater remaining stages. at development caused both osmotic ionic stresses maize, leading significantly‐reduced evapotranspiration (ET), increased stem leaf Na + /K ratio, stunted growth. decline kernel number 100‐grain weight resulted severe yield loss. mid‐stage induced less adverse crop growth, while decrease remarkably reduced yield. minimized impacts saline productivity. Nonetheless, salt leaching by off‐season rainfall low monitoring should be considered before next season. Compared sandy soil, displayed higher salinization, lower growth Additional field research is recommended facilitate reliable use resources. Core Ideas studied. effective when scarce. Brackish proposed used reproductive Sandy preferable compare soil.