Geographical Distribution and Salinity Levels of Soil Resources of Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Research Assistant Professor, Soil and Water Research Institute(SWRI),Karaj

Abstract

The geographical distribution and salinity levels of the soil resources of Iran are discussed and quantified information presented at national and regional scales. At national level, salinity information was extracted from 1:1,000,000 soil resources and potentiality map of Iran on a total-land basis. The information on salinity levels at regional scale was obtained through manipulation of the measured soil EC values, which are accumulated in the archives of Soil and Water Research Institute of Iran over the last 50 years. From a total of 6.8 million hectares of salt-affected agricultural lands, about 4.3 million hectares have only salinity limitation without posing any other limitations for sustainable crop production. The other 2.5 million hectares have other limitations related to soil, topography/erosion, and depth to the groundwater table as well as salinity limitation. In most salt-affected soils in the agricultural lands of the country, the depth to the groundwater table is lower than the root zone. The land areas in which the depth to the water table falls within the root zone cover only 8.4 percent of the total salt-affected agricultural lands. This suggests that reclamation of salt-affected lands is technically practical and economically viable. 

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Soil Research
Volume 24, Issue 3
March 2011
Pages 203-215

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