Saline Farming: New Frontiers in Agriculture Case Study from Gujarat, India YouTube Lecture Handouts

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Why Not Saline?

Threatens food production and food security

Then How Saline Farming is Possible?

Crop and cultivar choice

Irrigation

Fertilization

Soil management

  • Bio saline agriculture in the context of climate change towards developing more climate-resilient, sustainable and innovative farming systems tailormade for the salt-affected areas. It mainly focuses on supporting sustainable food production in increasingly saline environments while contributing to the restoration and/or protection of productive natural capital affected by salinity and water scarcity.
  • SalFar is part of EU՚s North Sea Region development program to support economy in 7 nations – Norway, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands.
  • In 2017 global sea level was 3 inches above 1993
  • Soil salinization affects an estimated 1 to 3 million hectares in Europe, mainly in the Mediterranean countries. It is regarded as a major cause of desertification and therefore is a serious form of soil degradation being salinization and sodification among the major degradation processes endangering the potential use of European soils.

Crop Varieties

Beans die in th salinity of oceans (~5 dS/m)

Halophytes or succulents are good fit

The salinity tolerance of a (cultivar of a) crop is often expressed according to the model suggested by Maas and Hoffman (1977) . They suggested to express salinity tolerance of any plant species based on two parameters: the threshold and the slope. The threshold is the salinity level at which yields start to become negatively affected. The slope is the degree with which yields are further decreasing as salinity increases

Irrigation

Both fresh water and brackish water reduces evapotranspiration

Both Fresh Water and Brackish Water Reduces evapotranspirationBoth Fresh Water and Brackish Water Reduces Evapotranspiration
Irrigation water
Soil typeSoil salinityFreshSalt/brackish
Soil typeSandYesGood possibilitiesGood possibilities
SandNoConventional agricultureGood possibilities
ClayYesTrickyNot recommended
ClayNoConventional agricultureNot recommended
  • For this reason, it is important to keep the soil moisture as constant as possible. When irrigating with brackish water it is also important to irrigate enough so that salts don՚t accumulate in the top layers but are drained to deeper soil layers or, preferably, a drainage system. When irrigation is done using brackish water, only sandy soils or loamy sandy soils are suitable. Irrigating with brackish water on clay soils will lead to structural problems with the soil
  • Irrigation is best done using drip irrigation because this is the most water use efficient way. When using flood irrigation, it is important to take into account the drying out of the soil. Crops should be planted on those areas where the drying out is slowest.

Fertilizers

  • Electrical Conductivity is already high in saline so fertilizers can be problematic the addition of fertilizers can increase the osmotic stress of crops associated with salinity. It important to take this into account and foliar fertilizers may be a solution to this issue. Additionally, salinity may lead to specific deficits in crops, or higher demands for certain minerals and consequently these may require higher doses of application than in conventional agriculture.
  • Soil should be rich in organic matter.
  • Salinized soil may require certain additives at the start of the growing season, such as gypsum, to alleviate salt stress.

Gujarat Case Study

  • Dutch and Gujarat governments - ‘Centre of Excellence’
  • 27 per cent of the Netherlands is below sea level.
  • A large portion of Gujarat՚s land is salinized, not just near the coast but also in the hinterland. The salinity is higher than what can be grown in traditional farming
  • Dutch has developed ways of farming in saline waters in collaboration with Wageningen University, the world՚s most prestigious agricultural university and working with seed companies, water corporations, and building a consortium potato, vegetables, dairy, etc. , cabbage, beetroot, carrot, tomato, strawberry

Mekong Case Study

In the Mekong Delta, farmers generally harvest rice twice a year when fresh water is available. “During the dry season the river flows very low so there is saltwater intrusion from the sea water into the river, even up to 40 kilometres upstream from the mouth of the river,” salt-tolerant crop cultivation, the assessment and monitoring of brackish groundwater resources, and irrigation methods using brackish groundwater.

Crops and Fuel Wood

  • Quite often fuel wood is obtained from salt-tolerant trees and shrubs, which may include species of Prosopis, Tamarix, Salsola, Acacia, Suaeda, Kochia, Capparis, Casuarina, Pithecellobium, Parkinsonia, and Salvadora. In addition, species like Dalbergia sissoo, Pongamia pinnata, Populus euphratica, and Tamarix spp. could provide good-quality wood. In coastal areas the mangroves species of Rhizophora, Ceriops, Avicennia and Aegiceras are good fuel woods and also contribute to charcoal production.
  • A kind of soda is obtained in large quantities from Suaeda, Salicornia, Salsola, and Haloxylon species, used in soap making and in glass industry.
  • The economic analysis of saline water irrigation has three main aspects:
    • concerning the reclamation of saline and sodic soils preceding cultivation,
    • the constant use of saline water for irrigation and,
    • the reuse of drainage water for irrigation and the drainage installations
  • Saline agriculture can also be a potential strategy for reducing in the atmosphere in degraded salt-affected areas.

Manishika