Improvement of Salt-affected Soils by Deep Tillage

— Part 1: Large-scale Field Tests in a Saline Soil (Solonchak) Region —

Abstract

A method of ploughing was investigated for improvement of salt-affected soils. A coarse layer provided in the subsoil by deep tillage created soil clods to cut off the capillary rise from groundwater. This paper deals with large-scale test fields constructed by using a four-stage subsoil plough in a saline soil (solonchak) region. The results showed that the deep tillage to the subsoil was beneficial for the improvement of the solonchak soil. In the deeply tilled field, rapes and potatoes were taller and healthier than in the conventional field where the topsoil alone was tilled. Weeds were almost completely eliminated in the deeply tilled field. The yield (dry mass) of the rape in the deeply tilled field increased 1.27 times, and potato yields more than doubled. A reduction of pH and EC values was obtained in the deeply tilled field.