Developments in Soil Salinity Assessment and Reclamation: Innovative Thinking and Use of Marginal Soil and Water Resources in Irrigated Agriculture

826 Pages·2013·14.38 MB·English

by  Shabbir A. Shahid (auth.)

Developments in Soil Salinity Assessment
and Reclamation

Shabbir A. Shahid (cid:129) Mahmoud A. Abdelfattah
Faisal K. Taha
Editors
Developments in Soil
Salinity Assessment
and Reclamation
Innovative Thinking and Use of Marginal
Soil and Water Resources in Irrigated
Agriculture
Editors
Shabbir A. Shahid Mahmoud A. Abdelfattah
International Center for Biosaline Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi
Agriculture United Arab Emirates
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Soils and Water Department
[email protected]
Faculty of Agriculture

Fayoum University
Faisal K. Taha
Fayoum, Egypt
International Center for Biosaline
[email protected];
Agriculture
[email protected]
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
[email protected]
ISBN 978-94-007-5683-0 ISBN 978-94-007-5684-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5684-7
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012955936
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, speci fi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on micro fi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection
with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied speci fi cally for the purpose of being entered and
executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this
publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s
location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions
for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to
prosecution under the respective Copyright Law.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci fi c statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for
any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with
respect to the material contained herein.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
Productive and fertile soils are a scarce resource in the arid and especially in the
hyperarid desert environments. Most often, these areas suffer from scarce fresh
water resources which necessitate the use of marginal quality water for agriculture.
The improper use of marginal quality water and poor management of soil and water
resources can lead to soil salinization, which in addition to causing reduction in
crop yield has been identi fi ed as the major land degradation process in many coun-
tries. It is therefore essential to understand the salinity hazard spatially and tempo-
rally for proper management to enhance soil services for many uses.
Nearly 10% of the total land surface (over 1 billion ha) is covered with different
types of salt-affected soils. The process of soil salinization is dynamic, and soil
salinity is widespread and distributed over 100 countries, and no continent on the
globe is free from such soils. Saline soils are not only common in desert and semi-
desert regions but also frequently occur in fertile alluvial plains. There exist conven-
tional and modern techniques to assess soil salinity from farm to national and
regional levels.
Recognizing this need, the idea emerged to organize an international conference
and invite top-level experts in soil science and related disciplines to discuss the
recent developments in soil salinity assessment and monitoring, as well as optimum
use of marginal quality water for agriculture for better agricultural and environmen-
tal outcomes in the future. Enhanced agriculture production and more sustainable
outcomes are critical to improve food security.
The international conference, “Soil Classi fi cation and Reclamation of Degraded
Lands in Arid Environments,” was held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan
bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region Abu Dhabi and
Chairman of Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD)) in 17–19 May 2010. It
proved to be the ideal forum to share and discuss latest developments in soil salinity
assessment and use of marginal quality water in agriculture.
During the conference, broad issues related to the high-tech in soil salinity
assessment, salinity management and reclamation, biosaline agriculture and salt-
tolerant mechanisms in plants, and opportunities and challenges in using marginal
water were raised. It is these topics which are presented in this book to assist in a
v
vi Foreword
better understanding of saline soil and water resources to ensure sustainable environ-
mental and agricultural use.
I wish to thank H.E Mohammed Al-Bowardi (managing director EAD), H.E
Majid Al Mansouri, then secretary general EAD, and Her Excellency Ms Razan
Al-Mubarak (secretary general EAD) for their inspiration and respective endeavors
to ensure the success of the conference and subsequent publication of its
proceedings.
Director General, International Center Shawki Barghouti
for Biosaline Agriculture
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Preface
This book is the outcome of an International Conference on Soil Classi fi cation and
Reclamation of Degraded Lands in Arid Environments held during 17–19 May
2010 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi
(EAD) and Dubai-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)
jointly organized the conference. The main objective of the conference was to bring
renowned scientists, educators, and policy makers to share and discuss conference
technical themes in broader perspectives.
We received overwhelming response to the call for papers, and over 250 abstracts
were received from over 35 countries. The abstracts were reviewed, and those
suitable were accepted for the submission of full manuscripts. The diversity of the
conference themes made it necessary to publish these papers into two independent
books. Prior to publication of the papers, all preselected papers went through
rigorous technical review and through an iterative review process with authors
before fi nalization for publication.
The papers published in this book “Developments in Soil Salinity Assessment
and Reclamation: Innovative Thinking and Use of Marginal Soil and Water
Resources in Irrigated Agriculture” represent part of the conference proceedings.
The rest of the papers are published in a separate book, “Developments in Soil
Classi fi cation, Land Use Planning and Policy Implications-Innovative Thinking of
Soil Inventory for Land Use Planning and Management of Land Resources (Shahid
SA, Taha FK and Abdelfattah MA (eds)).”
In this book, papers pertaining to high tech in soil salinity mapping and monitor-
ing, management and reclamation of salt-affected soils, use of marginal quality
water for crop production, salt-tolerance mechanisms in plants, biosaline agricul-
ture and agroforestry, microbiological interventions for marginal soils, opportuni-
ties and challenges in using marginal waters, and soil and water management in
irrigated agriculture are presented in eight parts divided into 52 chapters.
Part I deals with advanced technologies in soil salinity assessment and monitoring
using remote sensing, geographical information system, modeling, and geostatistics,
and examples from Egypt, India, Iran, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Thailand,
UAE, USA, and Uzbekistan are presented. The experience of management and
vii
viii Preface
reclamation of soils from China, India, Oman and Pakistan, is presented in Part II.
The research on the use of marginal quality water for crop production in Australia,
Bangladesh, Egypt, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE, and USA is included in Part III.
Mechanism of salt tolerance in plants is discussed in Part IV including work from
Germany and Morocco, whereas in Part V the work from various countries (Egypt,
India, Italy, and Uzbekistan) on biosaline agriculture and agroforestry is detailed. A
paper on microbiological interventions on marginal soils from Pakistan is included in
Part VI. Opportunity and challenges in using marginal waters are presented in Part
VII (Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa), and work on soil and water management in irri-
gated agriculture (Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, and UAE) are included in
Part VIII.
We hope the book will be an excellent addition and contribution to the science
and knowledge of soil salinity assessment and monitoring using advanced tech-
niques and use of marginal soil and water resources in irrigated agriculture. We
believe the adoption of relevant technologies in speci fi c areas may ultimately lead
to optimize crop production in developing countries of arid, semiarid, and desert
environments, the regions highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change and
food insecurity.
Shabbir A. Shahid
Mahmoud A. Abdelfattah
Faisal K. Taha
About the Editors
Shabbir A. Shahid is salinity management scientist at Dubai-based International
Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA). He earned his Ph.D. degree from the
University of Wales, Bangor, UK, in 1989 and B.Sc. Hons and M.Sc. Hons
(soil science) from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), Pakistan, in 1977
and 1980, respectively. He joined ICBA in 2004 and has over 30 years experience
(Pakistan, the UK, Australia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates) in soil-related RD
and E activities. He has held positions: associate professor soils (University of
Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan); associate research scientist in Kuwait Institute
for Scienti fi c Research, Kuwait; and manager of soil resources department,
Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is a proli fi c author of over 150 publi-
cations in peer-reviewed refereed journals, proceedings, books, and manuals. He is
life member and current councilor of the World Association of Soil and Water
Conservation. Dr. Shahid is recipient of Sir William Roberts and David A. Jenkins
Awards.
Mahmoud A. Abdelfattah an Egyptian national, earned M.Sc. degree in Soil
Survey and Land Evaluation from ITC, the Netherlands (1998), and Ph.D. in soil
science from Cairo University, Egypt (2002). He joined UAE University in 2000,
and in 2002 he joined the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi, as soil scientist.
He was seconded to ICBA as deputy technical coordinator for Soil Survey of Abu
Dhabi Project (2004–2009). Dr. Abdelfattah is currently a deputy manager, Soil and
Land Use Management section, at EAD and managing Soil Survey of the Northern
Emirates Project; he is also an associate professor at Fayoum University, Egypt.
He has over 20 years experience in teaching and research. He participated in a
number of international conferences, managed number of technical projects, and is
author or co-author of over 50 published scienti fi c papers.
ix
x About the Editors
Faisal K. Taha is director of technical programs at Dubai-based International
Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA). He earned Ph.D. degree from the
University of Wyoming and has over 30 years of professional experience in
research and development in the USA, Canada, Kuwait, and the United Arab
Emirates. He has held key positions as project leader, program manager, department
manager, chairman, professor, and technical program director at the Kuwait Institute
for Scienti fi c Research, Canada’s Agriculture Development Fund, UAE University,
and ICBA. Dr. Taha is an accomplished researcher and scientist with over 100
publications in refereed journals, proceedings, technical reports, and scientifi c books.
He is also the winner of various regional and international awards in agricultural
research and development.