Coupling Effect of Water and Fertilizer on Crops in Salinized Soil

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 1780

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Interests: water saving and efficient utilization of water resources in agriculture; sprinkler and surface irrigation technology; fertigation scheduling; SPAC system modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chinese-Israeli International Center for Research and Training in Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: water–heat–salt transport in porous media; water and fertilizer interaction for crop production; intelligent irrigation

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Scicences, Beijing, China
Interests: agricultural sustainable development in saline soil; saline water irrigation method and theory

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There are more than 833 million hectares of salt-affected soils around the globe, representing approximately 8.7% of the planet (FAO, 2021). To data, salinized land is increasingly cultivated in order to close the gap to meet the requirement of a 70% increase in food production by 2050 when the global population is expected to reach 9.6 billion (FAO, 2013). The high soluble salt content in salinized soil not only influences the soil’s physical and chemical properties, but also reduces fertility and limits nutrient and water uptake, ultimately negatively affecting crop growth and yield production.

Coupling water management and fertilizer application could improve the soil water and root zone nutrient environment, thus mitigating the salt’s effect on the plant growth and improving crop yield and food quality. The optimization of the combination modes of water and fertilizer should be systematically analyzed regarding the crops’ responses to irrigation water quality, soil chemical and physical properties, irrigation methods and irrigation scheduling, drainage practice, fertilizer type and fertilizer application strategy in salinized soil. Field investigations, mathematical models and laboratory simulations are most frequently used in the research.

In this Special Issue, we want to explore recent advances in theories and technologies on the coupled effect of water and fertilizer on crops in salinized soil, based on laboratory experiments, field investigations, and physical models. Moreover, we welcome the submission of papers regarding the responses of crops in salinized soil to agronomy practices and climate change, as well as studies on soil and water environmental quality in saline soil–crop systems.

Prof. Dr. Haijun Liu
Prof. Dr. Quanzhong Huang
Prof. Dr. Xiaobin Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil salinity
  • irrigation method
  • fertigation scheduling
  • salt leaching
  • water quality
  • crop growth and food production
  • modeling
  • nutrient distribution and uptake
  • salinized soil sustainable development

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 4039 KiB  
Article
Vermicompost Combined with Soil Conditioner Improves the Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Saline-Alkali Land
by Feng Ai, Linwei He, Qiang Li, Binbin Li, Kaiyu Zhang, Hang Yang and Chenchen Zhang
Water 2023, 15(17), 3075; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15173075 - 28 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1074
Abstract
Addressing the challenges posed by Saline-Alkali land holds significant promise for optimizing agricultural resources and fostering sustainable agricultural development in affected areas. This study explores the efficacy of coal-based solid waste soil conditioner and vermicompost as mixed-component soil amendments in varying proportions. Through [...] Read more.
Addressing the challenges posed by Saline-Alkali land holds significant promise for optimizing agricultural resources and fostering sustainable agricultural development in affected areas. This study explores the efficacy of coal-based solid waste soil conditioner and vermicompost as mixed-component soil amendments in varying proportions. Through comprehensive field experiments, we investigate the impact of these amendments on soil physicochemical properties, microbial diversity, and the growth of L. chinensis, a grass species native to saline areas. Our findings reveal that the application of vermicompost-based soil amendments effectively reduced soil conductivity and led to noteworthy improvements in the pH of Saline-Alkali soil. Moreover, these amendments demonstrated a marked capacity to enhance soil organic matter and available nutrients, most notably available phosphorus. Concurrently, the introduced soil amendments exhibited a positive influence on soil microbial diversity. A correlation analysis underscores the pivotal roles of soil pH and organic matter in shifting soil microbial communities. In response to amendments, L. chinensis exhibited varying degrees of growth enhancement, with biomass increments ranging from 6.37% to 19.91%. In summary, vermicompost and soil conditioner can improve Saline-Alkali land by supplementing organic matter and effective nutrients, improving pH and conductivity, and regulating microbial community, so as to realize the restoration and improvement of Saline-Alkali land; the greatest improvement was achieved with soil conditioner and vermicompost application rates of 30,000 kg·ha−1 and 15,000 kg·ha−1, respectively. Our results provide robust support for advocating for the integration of vermicompost-based soil amendments in Saline-Alkali land management strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling Effect of Water and Fertilizer on Crops in Salinized Soil)
Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 4834 KiB  
Article
Effect of Subsurface Drainage Combined with Biochar on the Bacterial Community Composition of Coastal Saline Soil
by Yuyu Tian, Dongwei Li, Yuting Wang, Qingqing Zhao, Zongpeng Li, Rui Jing and Xinguo Zhou
Water 2023, 15(15), 2701; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15152701 - 27 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 763
Abstract
Waterlogging and salinization are considered to be the main threats to agricultural productivity and land resources in coastal areas of China. Thus far, drainage and field soil improvement programs have been ineffective. In this article, we investigated the effect of subsurface drainage combined [...] Read more.
Waterlogging and salinization are considered to be the main threats to agricultural productivity and land resources in coastal areas of China. Thus far, drainage and field soil improvement programs have been ineffective. In this article, we investigated the effect of subsurface drainage combined with biochar (B–S) on soil physicochemical properties and soil bacterial community structure in coastal saline soil. In this study, B–S significantly reduced soil electrical conductivity (EC) and soil water content (W) by 35% and 10.65% compared to no drainage (CK). Compared to CK and drainage alone (S), B–S significantly increased soil total nitrogen (TN) by 24.78% and 39.62%, soil available phosphorus (AP) by 28.29% and 69.82%, soil nitrate (NO3-N) by 64.65% and 35.45%, and significantly increased soil organic matter (SOM) by 74.69% and 66.10%, respectively. It also significantly increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and urease activities. The results of redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that CAT and urease made the greatest response to changes in environmental factors, indicating that CAT is more sensitive to changes in environmental alterations than ALP. AP was the dominant factor in the change in enzyme activity (R2 = 53.0%, p < 0.05), followed by NO3-N (R2 = 14.8%). SOM was the dominant factor in the variation in microbial abundance content (R2 = 38.5%, p < 0.05), followed by ALP (R2 = 20.0%, p < 0.05). The results of the study can provide guidance for effective land use and sustainable development of agricultural soil ecology in coastal areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling Effect of Water and Fertilizer on Crops in Salinized Soil)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2705 KiB  
Article
Effect of Autumn Irrigation on Salt Leaching under Subsurface Drainage in an Arid Irrigation District
by Jiawei Liu, Quanzhong Huang, Ze Li, Na Liu, Jinshuai Li and Guanhua Huang
Water 2023, 15(12), 2296; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15122296 - 20 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1167
Abstract
Non-growing season irrigation and farmland subsurface drainage play a crucial role in salt leaching and salinization control in arid irrigation areas. This study aimed to investigate the reduction of autumn irrigation quotas and drainage discharge while maintaining soil moisture retention and reducing soil [...] Read more.
Non-growing season irrigation and farmland subsurface drainage play a crucial role in salt leaching and salinization control in arid irrigation areas. This study aimed to investigate the reduction of autumn irrigation quotas and drainage discharge while maintaining soil moisture retention and reducing soil salinization. Field experiments were conducted with different autumn irrigation quotas (160 mm for SD1, 180 mm for SD2, and 200 mm for SD3) combined with subsurface drainage (1.5 m drain depth and 45 m spacing). A control treatment (referred to as CK) without subsurface drainage received 200 mm of irrigation. The results showed that, after 31 days of autumn irrigation, the groundwater depth in all three subsurface drainage plots stabilized to 1.5 m, with the CK being 0.2–0.3 m shallower compared to the SD plots. The mean soil water content in the 0–150 cm soil layer of the SD1, SD2, SD3, and CK after autumn irrigation was 0.36, 0.39, 0.41, and 0.42 cm3cm−3, respectively. The combination of autumn irrigation and subsurface drainage significantly reduced the soil salt content. The mean desalination rates in the root zone (0–60 cm) soil layer were 57.5%, 53.7%, 51.9%, and 45.1% for the SD3, SD2, CK, and SD1, respectively. The mean desalination rate of 60–150 cm was not significantly different between the SD2 and SD3 (p > 0.05), and both were significantly higher than that of the SD1 and CK (p < 0.05). The drainage discharge was 31, 36, and 40 mm in the SD1, SD2 and SD3, respectively. The amount of salt discharge through the drain pipe increased with increasing irrigation quota, which was 1.22 t/ha, 1.41 t/ha, and 1.50 t/ha for the SD1, SD2, and SD3, respectively. Subsurface drainage is an effective way to prevent salt accumulation in the soil, and an autumn irrigation quota of 180 mm is recommended for leaching of salinity in the Hetao Irrigation District. These findings provide valuable insights into optimizing irrigation practices and managing soil salinization in arid regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling Effect of Water and Fertilizer on Crops in Salinized Soil)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop