Salinity management for sustainable irrigation : integrating science, environment, and economics / Daniel Hillel ; with an appendix by E. Feinerman.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Hillel, Daniel.

Series:

Environmentally and socially sustainable development. Rural development

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Saline irrigation.

Saline waters.

Soils, Salts in.

Physical Description:

vi, 92 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : World Bank, [2000]

Summary:

Soil irrigation has long played a key role in feeding expanding populations and is expected to play a still greater role in the future. It not only raises the yields for specific crops, but also prolongs the effective crop growing period in areas with dry seasons. Irrigated land amounts to 17 per cent of the world's cropland, but contributes over 30 per cent of the total agricultural production. Inevitably however irrigation entails the addition of waterborne salts. Many arid zone soils contain natural reserves of salts which are mobilised by irrigation and capillary action. Finally the roots of crop plants typically extract water from the soil while leaving most of the salts behind, thus causing them to accumulate. The problem of irrigated agriculture inducing processes of land degradation (water logging and salination) is age old. The dilemma of land deterioration is not exclusive to the less developed nations, where it has caused repeated occurrences of famine. It applies to an equal extent to such technologically advanced countries as the United States and Australia. So widespread are the problems that some critics doubt whether irrigation schemes can ever be sustained in one area for very long. This report attempts to challenge this pessimistic view by examining the physicochemical, agronomic, environmental, and economic evidence to produce practical recommendations for irrigation. The aim of this effort is to help ensure the long term viability and productivity of irrigated agriculture in arid and semiarid regions around the world.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-87) and index.

ISBN:

082134773X

OCLC:

44619404