Adaptation of forage plants to saliferous soil and improvement of these forage plants for saliferous soil in the irrigation region of upper reaches of the Tarim River

Authors Ning Husen; Ji Xiaomin; Liang Jiye; Lu Xiaoli; Gao Mingyue

Journal Pratacultural Science , 2010,11:27

Abstract The agricultural production usually relies on the irrigation systems in the southern part of Xinjiang. The long-term irrigation results.in the seriously secondary salinization of land in the Shajingzi region, affecting the agricultural economic development. The traditional method of washing alkali and salt is effective, but it consumes a lot of water and easily causes the accumulation of soil salinity. The soil salinity content becomes very high when washing alkali and salt is unavailable, resulting in difficulty to restore vegetation cover, and further becoming the resource of sand storm. In this study, the tolerance salt grasses(Agropyron elongatum and Puccinellia tenui flora) were selected to control stalinization by absorbing soil salinity and improving the soil structure. The results of this study showed that planting A.elongatum and P.tenui flora in the saline-alkali land reduced the soil salinity content in 0-60 cm layer, lowered the water table, increased the vegetation cover, and harvested the herbage biomass. This study suggested that planting tolerance salt grasses was an effective way to promote the ecological restoration and reconstruction in the oasis regions