Reclamation of Salt‐Affected Soils

This chapter focuses on basic soil and plant sciences as applied to reclamation and on documenting practices used by farmers in developed and developing countries. It first discusses physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of soil, and describes specific reclamation examples and methods related to soil, water, and cropping practices. The chapter describes specific cases in which exchangeable Na affects the reclamation process. The focus is on maintaining adequate soil salinity to counteract the adverse effects of exchangeable Na on soil hydraulic properties. Salinity is the key to rapid reclamation as demonstrated by Reeve and Doering in the reclamation of clay loam soil using the high-salt-water dilution method. The chapter also describes farming practices used in California, Israel, and India for reclamation.