Bioreclamation of a saline sodic soil in a semi arid region/Jordan.

Abstract: Field study was conducted in Jordan Valley-Jordan to investigate the effects of growing three types of salt accumulator halophyte species, Tamarix aphylla L., Atriplex numularia L., Atreplix hallimus L., on chemical properties of saline sodic soil. Different halophyte plant species showed different decline in soil salinity of all plots at the end of the experiment as the salinity decreased from an average electrical conductivity (soil paste) of 84 to 5.46, 5.04 and 6.3 mS /cm at the top layer (0-30 cm depth) and from 49.6 to 5.46, 13.45 and 7.14 mS/cm for the lower soil (30-60 cm depth) for Atreplix hallimus L., Atriplex numularia L and Tamarix aphylla L., respectively. Higher reduction in salinity was found in the upper zone which was attributed to high root density. Key words: Jordan Soil Salinity Halophytes Bioreclamation INTRODUCTION used such as planting the soil with salt tolerant plants Saline soils are those which have an electrical from the soil. For farmers, bioremediation is very useful as conductivity of the saturation soil extract of more than 4 it requires low initial investments, improves the soil mS cm at 25°C [1]. Although some countries such as quality and the produced crops can be used as an animal1 USA had lowered the boundary between saline and non- feed lots.