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Irrigation management strategies for improved salinity and sodicity control

Kuper M.. 1997. Wageningen : Wageningen Agricultural University, 250 p.. Thesis Ph.D..

An integrated approach is developed to assess a priori the effects of irrigation management interventions on soil salinity, sodicity and transpiration. The approach is tested for a 75,000 ha irrigation system in Pakistan, where canal and groundwater are used conjunctively. The main hypothesis is that by reallocating good quality canal water, the use of poor quality groundwater can be restricted, thus combating salinity and sodicity and mitigating their effects on crops. The study has three components. Firstly, interventions in canal water deliveries to tertiary units are analyzed using an unsteady state hydraulic model, based on the St. Venant equations, and linked with a regulation module, which captures the operational decisions of the irrigation agency. By changing the operational rules at the main canal, and by redimensioning the outlets in secondary canals, the water can be distributed equitably to tertiary units or delivered to those units that require it for salinity control. Secondly, the impact of irrigation on salinity, sodicity and transpiration is assessed for farmers' fields, using a combined soil water flow and solute transport model, based on Richard's equation and the convection-dispersion equation, and a regression equation, based on the irrigation quality and soil texture. A curvilinear relationship with a decreasing tangent was found between the irrigation quantity and soil salinity. Increases in the EC of the irrigation water result in a parallel curve with higher salinity levels. Adapting the irrigation quantity and quality to the existing soil types and depth to groundwater table can, therefore, reduce salinity and sodicity, thus avoiding soil degradation, which already occurs at an ESP of 4%. Thirdly, both components are combined with a parallel, socio-economic study, where farmers' decisions related to the crop portfolio and acquisition/application of water, were captured in Linear Programming models. The individual models of both studies are

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