Fodder production and soil health with conjunctive use of saline and good quality water in ustipsamments of a semi-arid region

Food and fodder shortage in and and semi-arid regions force farmers to use marginal quality water for meeting the water requirement of crops which result in low quality, reduced production and an adverse impact on soil properties. A field study on loamy-sand (Hyperthermic Typic Ustipsamments) saline soil was conducted during 1999-2001 at Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Hisar. This involved assessment of effects of conjunctive use of saline water, EC = 4.6-7.4dSm(-1), SAR = 14-22 (mmol(-1))(1/2) with good quality water on five fodder crop rotations: oat-sorghum (Avena sativa-Sorghum bicolor), rye grass-sorghum (Loleum rigidum-Sorghum bicolor), Egyptian clover-sorghum (Trifoleum alexandrinum-Sorghum bicolor), Persian clover-sorghum (Trifoleum resupinatum-Sorghum bicolor) and Indian clover-sorghum (Melilotus indica-Sorghum bicolor) and certain soil properties associated with it. Leguminous winter fodder crops were more sensitive to poor quality water use. Reductions in fodder yield with use of saline water alone throughout season were 85, 68, 54, 42, 36 and 26 per cent in Indian clover, Egyptian clover, Persian clover, oat, rye grass and sorghum respectively as compared to good quality water. Leguminous fodder crops produced protein rich (12-14 per cent) and low fibre (18-20 per cent) fodder as compared to poor quality grassy fodder under good quality water irrigation but their quality deteriorated when saline water was used. These leguminous crops accumulated proportionately higher Na+ (1.58 percent) resulting in adverse impact on their growth as compared to grassy fodder crops. Higher soil salinity (12.2 dSm(-1)), SAR = 20 (mmol(-1))(1/2) was recorded with saline water irrigation; and slight adverse impact was noticed on infiltration rate and contents of water dispersible clay. Alternate cyclic use of canal and saline water could be an option for fodder production under such conditions. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.