Abstract
Large amounts of shallow underground water typically with salt content at around 4.7 dS m−1 are available in the North Chain Plain (NCP), which requires managing and thus can be properly used in irrigated agriculture to relieve the increasing pressure on fresh water in this region for supplementary irrigation. Field experiments were conducted to investigate the soil salt accumulation, responses, and yield simulation of winter wheat to the alternate irrigation strategies during 2017–2019. Five irrigation strategies included rain-fed cultivation (NI), fresh and saline water irrigation (FS), fresh water irrigation (FF), saline water irrigation (SS), and saline and fresh water irrigation (SF) during the growth stages. Irrigation with saline water increased soil salinity level and could be balanced annually; however, the leaf gas exchange of winter wheat was almost not significantly affected. The salinity caused by saline water irrigation negatively influenced the vegetative growth. The grain yield was increased by 24% and 32% under the FS and SF treatments compared to NI, while a minor reduction by 12% and 5% in yield under these treatments was recorded compared with the FF treatment. The SALTMED model was calibrated and validated to predict yield, and the high value of the R2 reflected a good agreement between modeled and observed values, indicating that the SALTMED model was able to simulate grain yield under the alternate irrigation strategies in the regional climate condition. Supplementary irrigation using saline water at the stem elongation stage and fresh water at the flowering stage is a practical solution to achieve comparable yields with low risk of salt accumulation for winter wheat particularly in the NCP.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acosta-Motos JR, Hern-Andez JA, Alvarez S, Barba-Espin G, Sanchez-Blanco MJ (2017) The long-term resistance mechanisms, critical irrigation threshold and relief capacity shown by Eugenia myrtifolia plants in response to saline reclaimed water. Plant Physiol Biochem 111:244–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.12.003
Alvarez SS, Anchez-Blanco MJ (2014) Long-term effect of salinity on plant quality, water relations, photosynthetic parameters and ion distribution in Callistemon citrinus. Plant Biol 16:757–764. https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12106
Chauhan C, Singh R, Gupta S (2008) Supplemental irrigation of wheat with saline water. Agric Water Manag 95:253–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2007.10.007
Chen S, Sun H, Shao L, Zhang X (2014) Performance of winter wheat under different irrigation regimes associated with weather conditions in the North China Plain. Aust J Crop Sci 8:550–557
Feizi M, Hajabbasi MA, Mostafazadeh-fard B (2010) Saline irrigation water management strategies for better yield of safflower (Carthamustinctorius L.) in an arid region. Aust J Crop Sci 4:408–414
Feng D, Zhang J, Cao C, Sun J, Shao L, Li F, Dang H, Sun C (2015) Soil salt accumulation and crop yield under long-term irrigation with saline water. J Irrig Drain Eng 141:04015025. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0000924
Gioia FD, Rosskopf EN, Leonardi C, Giuffrida F (2018) Effects of application timing of saline irrigation water on broccoli production and quality. Agri Water Manage 203:97–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.01.004
Hu C, Delgado JA, Zhang X, Ma L (2005) Assessment of groundwater use by wheat (Triticumaestivum L.) in the Luancheng Xian region and potential implications for water conservation in the Northwestern North China Plain. J Soil Water Conserv 60:80–88
Hussain Z, Khattak RA, Irshad M, Mahmood Q, An P (2016) Effect of saline irrigation water on the leachability of salts, growth and chemical composition of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in saline-sodic soil supplemented with phosphorus and potassium. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 16:604–620. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-95162016005000031
Hussain MI, Farooq M, Muscolo A, Rehman A (2020) Crop diversification and saline water irrigation as potential strategies to save freshwater resources and reclamation of marginal soils-a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:28695–28729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09111-6
Jiang J, Huo Z, Feng S, Zhang C (2012) Effect of irrigation amount and water salinity on water consumption and water productivity of spring wheat in Northwest China. Field Crop Res 137:78–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2012.08.019
Katerji N, Mastrorilli M, Van-Hoorn JW, Lahmer FZ, Hamdy A, Oweis T (2009) Durum wheat and barley productivity in saline–drought environments. Eur J Agron 31:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2009.01.003
Kutuk C, Cayci G, Heng LK (2004) Effect of increasing salinity and N-15- labeled urea levels on growth, N uptake, and water use efficiency of young tomato plants. Aust J Soil Res 42:345–351. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR02006
Li J, Gao Y, Zhang X, Tian P, Li J, Tian Y (2019) Comprehensive comparison of different saline water irrigation strategies for tomato production: soil properties, plant growth, fruit yield and fruit quality. Agric Water Manag 213:521–533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.11.003
Liu X, Feike T, Chen SY, Shao LW, Sun HY, Zhang XY (2016) Effects of saline irrigation on soil salt accumulation and grain yield in the winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system in the low plain of North China. J Integr Agric 15:2886–2898. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61328-4
Lv Z, Liu X, Cao W, Zhu Y (2013) Climate change impacts on regional winter wheat production in main wheat production regions of China. Agric For Meteorol 171:234–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2012.12.008
Ma W, Mao Z, Yu Z, Van-Mensvoort M, Driessen P (2008) Effects of saline water irrigation on soil salinity and yield of winter wheat-maize in North China Plain. Irrig Drain Syst 22:3–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10795-007-9027-1
Maas EV, Grattan SR (1999) Crop yields as affected by salinity. In: Skaggs R W, van Schilfgaarde J. Agric. Drain. Agronomy monograph 38. Madison, USA. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronmonogr38.c3
Memon SA, Sheikh IA, Talpur MA, Mangrio MA (2021) Impact of deficit irrigation strategies on winter wheat in semi-arid climate of Sindh. Agric Water Manag 243:106389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106389
Montenegro S, Montenegro A, Ragab R (2010) Improving agricultural water management in the semi-arid region of Brazil: experimental and modelling study. Irrig Sci 28:301–316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-009-0191-y
Pang G, Zhang S, Xu Z (2018) Effect of irrigation with brackish water on photosynthesis characteristics and yield of winter wheat. IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ Sci 170:052030. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/170/5/052030
Plaut Z, Edelstein M, Ben-Hur M (2013) Overcoming salinity barriers to crop production using traditional methods. Crit Rev Plant Sci 32:250–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352689.2012.752236
Ragab R, Malash N, Gawad GA, Arslan A, Ghaibeh A (2005) A holistic generic integrated approach for irrigation, crop and field management: 1. The SALTMED model and its application using field data from Egypt and Syria. Agric Water Manag 78:67–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2005.04.022
Rameshwaran P, Tepe A, Yazar A, Ragab R (2014) The effect of saline irrigation water on the yield of pepper: experimental and modelling study. Irrig Drain 64:41–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.1867
Sharma D, Rao K, Singh KP, Oosterbaan R (1994) Conjunctive use of saline and non-saline irrigation waters in semi-arid regions. Irrig Sci 15:25–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00187792
Soothar RK, Zhang W, Liu B, Wang C, Tankari M, Li L, Xing H, Gong D, Wang Y (2019a) Sustaining yield of winter wheat under alternate irrigation using saline water at different growth stages: a case study in the North China Plain. Sustainability 11:4564. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174564
Soothar RK, Zhang W, Yanqing Z, Tankari M, Mirjat U, Wang Y (2019b) Evaluating the performance of SALTMED model under alternate irrigation using saline and fresh water strategies to winter wheat in the North China Plain. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:34499–34509. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06540-w
Sun H, Shen Y, Yu Q, Flerchinger GN, Zhang Y, Liu C, Zhang X (2010) Effect of precipitation change on water balance and WUE of the winter wheat-summer maize rotation in the North China Plain. Agric Water Manag 97:1139–1145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2009.06.004
Wang Q, Huo Z, Zhang L, Wang J, Zhao Y (2016) Impact of saline water irrigation on water use efficiency and soil salt accumulation for spring maize in arid regions of China. Agric Water Manag 163:125–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2015.09.012
Willmott CJ (1981) On the validation of models. Phys Geogr 2:184–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.1981.10642213
Xue J, Ren L (2017) Conjunctive use of saline and non-saline water in an irrigation district of the Yellow River Basin. Irrig Drain 66:147–162. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2102
Yang Y, Yang Y, Moiwo J, Hu Y (2010) Estimation of irrigation requirement for sustainable water resources reallocation in North China. Agric Water Manag 97:1711–1721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2010.06.002
Funding
This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2018YFE0107000) and the HAAFS Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Project (grant no. 2019-4-6-02).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Soothar, R.K., Wang, C., Li, L. et al. Soil Salt Accumulation, Physiological Responses, and Yield Simulation of Winter Wheat to Alternate Saline and Fresh Water Irrigation in the North China Plain. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 21, 2072–2082 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00503-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00503-2