Premium
Corn Yield and Salinity Response to Irrigation on Slowly Permeable Subsoils
Author(s) -
Reichman G. A.,
Trooien T. P.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1993.03615995005700060026x
Subject(s) - irrigation , sodium adsorption ratio , soil water , leaching (pedology) , evapotranspiration , salinity , environmental science , agronomy , hydraulic conductivity , soil salinity , precipitation , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , geology , drip irrigation , geography , ecology , oceanography , geotechnical engineering , biology , meteorology
Crop yields in the northern Great Plains often could be improved with irrigation but many soils of this region have been considered nonirrigable because of their low hydraulic conductivity. This project was initiated to determine the leaching characteristics when irrigating two of these soils and to determine if harmful salinity increases would result from irrigation. We measured corn ( Zea mays L.) yield and soil saturation extract electrical conductivity (EC e ) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR e ) in response to irrigation plus precipitation of one, two, and three times the calculated evapotranspiration and to N fertility of 100 and 200 kg N/ha. The study was conducted for 5 yr at one site and 6 yr at another site, both in the northern Great Plains. Yield and increase of EC e at 100 kg N/ha were less than at 200 kg N/ha. At both sites, EC e increased but corn yield did not decrease during this experiment. The SAR e increased for all treatments but the maximum observed was <10. Excess irrigation usually had no effect on yield and did not decrease yield. Such excess irrigation provided salinity control by leaching. Precipitation also leached these soils. Our data indicate that the soils tested, the top 2.3 m of the soil profiles at two sites, allow enough leaching to permit effective well‐managed irrigation.