Abstract
Water scarcity has become one of the major limiting factors in global agriculture, particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. This necessitates irrigation with marginal-quality waters including those with high levels of residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and an important water quality parameter. Extended use of high RSC water leads to accumulate sodium in the soil which alters physical and chemical properties of soils. The electrical conductivity is a good index of salinity while sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) that of sodicity hazard of irrigation water. It has been found that waters with high RSC values are more hazardous compared to no RSC water of equal SAR. Sustainable agriculture on these soils demands to adopt certain site-specific management strategies prior to use such low-quality waters for the economic production of crops. Strategies like dilution with low salt water and addition of calcium-based amendments, along with organic manures have been traditionally practiced and giving some promising results. It is well documented that for improving plant growth, irrigation to achieve low leaching fraction is necessary for the purpose of reducing the transport of solutes that are responsible for the degradation of water quality and provides an efficient use of limited water supplies. In addition, implementations of government policies and public–private sector collaborations are necessary to find new horizons for the management of high RSC irrigation waters in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. This article provides an overview of soil permeability problems associated with the irrigation using high RSC waters.
This is a preview of subscription content,
to check access.


Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbasnia A, Radfard M, Mahvi AH, Nabizadeh R, Yousefi M, Soleimani H, Alimohammadi M (2018) Groundwater quality assessment for irrigation purposes based on irrigation water quality index and its zoning with GIS in the villages of Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchistan, Iran. Data Brief 19:623–631
Ahmad N, Chaudhry GR (1990) Summaries of irrigated agriculture of Pakistan. Shahzad Nazir, New York
Ahmed SS, Mazumder QH, Jahan CS, Ahmed M, Islam S (2002) Hydrochemistry and classification of groundwater, Rajshahi city Corporation area, Bangladesh. J Geol Soc India 60:411–418
Ali MS, Mahmood S, Chaudhary MN, Sadiq M (2009) Irrigation quality of ground water of twenty villages in Lahore district. Soil Environ 28(1):17–23
Ali S, Raza S, Sarwar Z, Sani M (2016) Reclamation of high residual sodium carbonate water with commercial sulphuric acid for sustainable cropping and soil conservation. Cercetari Agronomice in Moldova 49(4):5–14
Anjum MN, Ding Y, Shangguan D, Ijaz MW, Zhang S (2016) Evaluation of high-resolution satellite-based real-time and post-real-time precipitation estimates during 2010 extreme flood event in Swat River Basin, Hindukush region. Adv Met 2016
Ayers RS, Westcot DW (1985) Water quality for agriculture, vol 29. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
Bajwa M, Josan A (1989) Effect of gypsum and sodic irrigation water on soil and crop yields in a rice—wheat rotation. Agric Water Manag 16(1–2):53–61
Batra L, Kumar A, Manna MC, Chhabra R (1997) Mirobiological and chemical amelioration ofalkaline soil by growing Karnal grass and gypsumapplication. Expt Agric 33:389–397
Bedbabis S, Rouina BB, Boukhris M, Ferrara G (2014) Effect of irrigation with treated wastewater on soil chemical properties and infiltration rate. J Environ Manag 133:45–50
Biswas SN, Mohabey H, Malik ML (2002) Assessment of the irrigation water quality of river Ganga in Haridwar district. Asian J Chem 16:285–292
Bower C (1961) Prediction of the effects of irrigation waters on soils. In: Proceedings of Teheran symposium on salinity problems in arid zones. pp 1–8
Bower C, Wilcox L, Akin GW, Keyes MG (1965) An Index of the tendency of CaCO3 to precipitate from irrigation waters 1. Soil Sci Soci Am J 29(1):91–92
Chauhan R, Chauhan C, Dixit H (1989) Efect of residual sodium carbonate in irrigation water on yield and chemical composition of Berseem. J Indian Soc Sci 37:431–432
Choudhary OP, Grattan SR, Minhas PS (2011b) Sustainable crop production using saline and sodic irrigation waters. In: Lichtfouse E (ed) Alternative farming systems, biotechnology, drought stress and ecological fertilisation. Springer, Berlin, pp 293–318
Choudhary OP, Ghuman BS, Thuy N, Buresh RJ (2011a) Effects of long-term use of sodic water irrigation, amendments and crop residues on soil properties and crop yields in rice–wheat cropping system in a calcareous soil. Field Crops Res 121(3):363–372
CWC (2010) Water and related statistics. CWC, Ministry of Water Resources, New Delhi, Government of India
Doneen LD (1975) Water quality for irrigated agriculture. In: Poljakoff-Mayber A, Gale J (eds) Plants in saline environments. Springer, New York, pp 65–77
Duncan R, Carrow R, Huck M (2000) Understanding water quality and guidelines to management. USGA Green Sect Rec 38(5):14–24
Eaton FM (1950) Significance of carbonates in irrigation waters. Soil Sci 69(2):123–134
El Fattah El Ashtar A (2005) Effect of Saline irrigation water on some soil properties and salt tolerance of new wheat genotypes. Alexandria Sci Exch 26(2):106
Emadodin I, Narita D, Bork HR (2012) Soil degradation and agricultural sustainability: an overview from Iran. Environ Dev Sustain 14(5):611–625
Fuchs A, Wolff H (2016) Drought and retribution: evidence from a large-scale rainfall-indexed insurance program in Mexico. The World Bank, Mexico
Ghafoor A, Gill M, Hassan A, Murtaza G, Qadir M (2001) Gypsum: an economical amendment for amelioration of saline-sodic waters and soils and for improving crop yields. Int J Agric Biol 3:266–275
Ghafoor A, Qadir M, Murtaza G (2002) Agriculture in the Indus Plains: sustainability of land and water resources. Int J Agric Biol 4:429–437
Ghafoor A, Ahmad B, Maan A, Murtaza G (2004a) Farmer participation in technology development and transfer for using agricultural drainage water for growing grain crops during reclamation of saline-sodic soils. Final technical report 3 (June 2001–May 2004). Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Ghafoor A, Qadir M, Murtaza G (2004b) Salt-affected soils: principles of management. Allied Book Centre, Lahore
Ghafoor A, Murtaza G, Maann A, Qadir M, Ahmad B (2011) Treatments and economic aspects of growing rice and wheat crops during reclamation of tile drained saline-sodic soils using brackish waters. Irrig Drain 60(3):418–426
Ghiberto PJ, Pilatti MA, Imhoff S, De Orellana J (2007) Hydraulic conductivity of Molisolls irrigated with sodic-bicarbonated waters in Santa Fe (Argentine). Agric Water Manag 88(1–3):192–200
Griffin RC (2016) Water resource economics: the analysis of scarcity, policies, and projects. MIT press, Cambridge
Gupta RK, Abrol IP (1990) Salt-affected soils: their reclamation and management for crop production. Adv Soil Sci 11:223–288
GWI (2010a) Global water market 2011. Meeting the world’s water and wastewater needs until 2016. Volume II: Europe and Africa. Media Analytics. Oxford
GWI (2010b) Global water market. Meeting the world’s water and wastewater needs until 2016. Volume II: Europe and Africa. Media Analytics. Oxford.
Hanjra MA, Blackwell J, Carr G, Zhang F, Jackson TM (2012) Wastewater irrigation and environmental health: implications for water governance and public policy. Int J Hygiene Environ Heal 215(3):255–269
Hanson BR, Grattan SR, Fulton A (2006) Agricultural salinity and drainage, revised ed. Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 3375. University of California. pp 164
Hausenbuiller R, Haque M, Wahhab A (1960) Some effects of irrigation waters of differing quality on soil properties. Soil Sci 90(6):357–364
Hussain G (1978) Determination of irrigation water quality standards. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Colorado State University
IWMI (2015) International Water Management Institute, IWMI Annual report 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka. p 28.
Jhansy YI (2012) Management of high RSC waters. Doctoral dissertation, Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India
Josh J (2015). https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/well-and-tubewell-irrigation-1448272544-1#:~:text=Well%20and%20Tube%20Well%20irrigation,of%20Green%20Revolution%20in%20India. Accessed on 02 Oct 2020
Joshi DM, Kumar A, Agrawal N (2009) Assessment of the irrigation water quality of river Ganga in Haridwar district. Rasayan J Chem 2(2):285–292
Kahlown M, Gill MA (2003) Managing saline-sodic groundwater in the Indus basin. Sci Vis 9(1–2):1–10
Khan IA, Khan MS (2018) Developing sustainable agriculture in Pakistan. CRC Press, London
Khan SI, Hong Y, Gourley JJ, Khattak MUK, Yong B, Vergara HJ (2014) Evaluation of three high-resolution satellite precipitation estimates: Potential for monsoon monitoring over Pakistan. Adv Space Res 54(4):670–684
Khan SI, Hong Y, Gourley JJ, Huelsing HK, Khattak MU, Vergara HJ (2015) Spatial and diurnal variability of monsoon systems assessed by TRMM rain rate over Indus Basin. IEEE J Select Top Appl Earth Observ Remote Sens 8(9):4325–4335
Khattak MA, Ahmed N, Qazi MA, Izhar A, Ilyas S, Chaudhary MN, Khan MSA, Iqbal N, Waheed T (2012) Evaluation of ground water quality for irrigation and drinking purposes of the areas adjacent to Hudiara industrial drain, Lahore, Pakistan. Pak J Agric Sci 49(4):549–556
Kreft S, Eckstein D, Melchior I (2016) Global climate risk index 2017: who suffers most from extreme weather events? Weather-related loss events in 2015 and 1996 to 2015. Germanwatch Nord-Süd Initiative eV
Letey J (2011) Re-evaluation of the soil salinity leaching requirements. In: Proceedings of the agricultural certification programs-opportunities and challenges. pp 57–61
Letey J, Hoffman GH, Hopmans JW, Grattan SR, Suarez S, Corwin DL, Oster DJ, Wu L, Amrhein C (2011) Evaluation of soil salinity leaching requirement guidelines. Agric Water Manag 98(4):502–506
Mace J, Amrhein C, Oster J (1999) Comparison of gypsum and sulfuric acid for sodic soil reclamation. Arid Soil Res Rehab 13(2):171–188
Manchanda H, Sharma S, Singh J (1985) Effect of increasing levels of residual sodium carbonate in irrigation water on the exchangeable sodium percentage of a sandy loam soil and crop yield. J Indian Soc Soil Sci 33(2):366–371
Minhas P, Sharma D, Singh Y (1995) Response of rice and wheat to applied gypsum and farmyard manure on an alkali water irrigated soil. J Indian Soc Soil Sci 43(3):452–455
Muhammed S, Rauf A (1983) Management of high bicarbonate irrigation waters. Final report. PL 480 Project. Department of Soil Science, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Murtaza G, Ghafoor A, Qadir M (2006) Irrigation and soil management strategies for using saline-sodic water in a cotton–wheat rotation. Agric Water Manag 81(1–2):98–114
Murtaza G, Ghafoor A, Owens G, Qadir M, Kahlon U (2009) Environmental and economic benefits of saline-sodic soil reclamation using low-quality water and soil amendments in conjunction with a rice–wheat cropping system. J Agron Crop Sci 195(2):124–136
Murtaza G, Ghafoor A, Qadir M, Owens G, Aziz M, Zia M (2010) Disposal and use of sewage on agricultural lands in Pakistan: a review. Pedosphere 20(1):23–34
Murtaza G, Murtaza B, Kahlon UZ, Yaseen M (2017) A Comparative study of different amendments on amelioration of saline-sodic soils irrigated with water having different EC: SAR ratios. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 48(22):2630–2641
Nishanthiny SC, Thushyanthy M, Barathithasan T, Saravanan S (2010) Irrigation water quality based on hydro chemical analysis, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Am Eurasian J Agric Environ Sci 7(1):100–102
Organization WH, UNICEF (2013) Progress on sanitation and drinking-water. World Health Organization
Oster J, Schroer FW (1979) Infiltration as influenced by irrigation water quality. Soil Sci Soc Am J 43(3):444–447
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (2015) Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan
Paliwal KV, Maliwal GL, Nanawati GC (1975) Effect of bicarbonate-rich irrigation waters on the growth, nutrient uptake and synthesis of proteins and carbohydrates in wheat. Plant Soil 43:523–536
Pla I (1968) Evaluation of the quality of irrigation waters with high bicarbonate content in relation to the drainage conditions. Int Soc Soil Sci Trans 1:357–370
Prasad A, Kumar D, Singh D (2001) Effect of residual sodium carbonate in irrigation water on the soil sodication and yield of palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinni) and lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus). Agric Water Manag 50(3):161–172
Qadir M, Oster JD (2002) Vegetative bioreme-diation of calcareous sodic soils: history, mechanisms, and evaluation. Irrig Sci 21:91–101
Qadir M, Schubert S (2002) Degradation processes and nutrient constraints in sodic soils. Land Degrad Dev 13(4):275–294
Qadir M, Wichelns D, Raschid-Sally L, McCornick PG, Drechsel P, Bahri A, Minhas P (2010) The challenges of wastewater irrigation in developing countries. Agric Water Manag 97(4):561–568
Qadir M, Mateo-Sagasta J, Jiménez B, Siebe C, Siemens J, Hanjra MA (2015) Environmental risks and cost-effective risk management in wastewater use systems. In: Drechsel P, Qadir M, Wichelns D (eds) Wastewater. Springer, Berlin, pp 55–72
Qadir M, Schubert S, Oster JD, Sposito G, Minhas PS, Cheraghi SA, Murtaza G, Mirzabaev A, Saqib M (2018) High-magnesium waters and soils: Emerging environmental and food security constraints. Sci Total Environ 642:1108–1117
Qadir M, Drechsel P, Jiménez Cisneros B, Kim Y, Pramanik A, Mehta P, Olaniyan O (2020) Global and regional potential of wastewater as a water, nutrient and energy source. In: Rodis JM (ed) Natural resources forum, vol 1. Wiley, New York, pp 40–51
Qayyum MF, Rehman MZU, Ali S, Rizwan M, Naeem A, Maqsood MA, Khalid H, Rinklebe J, Ok YS (2017) Residual effects of monoammonium phosphate, gypsum and elemental sulfur on cadmium phytoavailability and translocation from soil to wheat in an effluent irrigated field. Chemosphere 174:515–523
Qureshi AS (2011) Water management in the Indus basin in Pakistan: challenges and opportunities. Mt Res Dev 31(3):252–260
Qureshi AS, McCornick PG, Sarwar A, Sharma BR (2010) Challenges and prospects of sustainable groundwater management in the Indus Basin, Pakistan. Water Res Manag 24(8):1551–1569
Rao P, Lakshmi G, Latha M (2014) High RSC irrigation water effects on growth, yield attributes and yield of rice in Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Int J Res Chem Environ 4(4):10–14
Rehman MZ-u, Rizwan M, Ghafoor A, Naeem A, Ali S, Sabir M, Qayyum MF (2015) Effect of inorganic amendments for in situ stabilization of cadmium in contaminated soils and its phyto-availability to wheat and rice under rotation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22(21):16897–16906
Rengasamy P, Olsson K (1993) Irrigation and sodicity. Soil Res 31(6):821–837
Rhoades JD (1974) Drainage for salinity control. In: van Schilfgaarde J (ed) Drainage for Agriculture. American Society of Agronomy Monographs, vol. 17. pp 433–462
Ritzema H, Satyanarayana T, Raman S, Boonstra J (2008) Subsurface drainage to combat waterlogging and salinity in irrigated lands in India: lessons learned in farmers’ fields. Agric Water Manag 95(3):179–189
Rizwan M, Ali S, Qayyum MF, Ibrahim M, Rehman MZ-u, Abbas T, Ok YS (2016) Mechanisms of biochar-mediated alleviation of toxicity of trace elements in plants: a critical review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23(3):2230–2248
Robbins CW (1986) Sodic calcar eous soil reclama-tion as affected by different amendme nts and crops. Agron J 78:916–920
Shah S, Iqbal F, Haq Zu (2007) Effect of different amendments on crop production under poor quality tubewell water. Sarhad J Agric 23(1):87
Sharma D, Bharat A (2009) Conceptualizing risk assessment framework for impacts of climate change on water resources. Curr Sci 96:1044–1052
Sharma S, Manchanda H (1989) Using sodic water with gypsum for some crops in relation to soil ESP. J Ind Soc Soil Sci 37:135–139
Sharma DR, Minhas PS (1998) Effect of irrigation with sodic waters of varying EC RSC and SAR/adj. SAR on soil properties and yield of cotton-wheat. J Indian Soc Soil Sci 46(1):116–119
Sharma D, Minhas P, Sharma D (2001) Response of rice-wheat to sodic water irrigation and gypsum application. J Ind Soc Soil Sci 49(2):324–327
Sheikh I (1989) Country report on problems of waterlogging and salinity in Pakistan. In: Proceeding information seminar on waterlogging and salinity research in some major problem Countries. pp 1–10
Singh C, Gupta S, Ram S (1996) Assessment and management of poor quality waters for crop production: a simulation model (SWAM). Agric Water Manag 30(1):25–40
Singh A, Krause P, Panda SN, Flugel W-A (2010) Rising water table: a threat to sustainable agriculture in an irrigated semi-arid region of Haryana. India Agric Water Manag 97(10):1443–1451
Sommer R, Glazirina M, Yuldashev T, Otarov A, Ibraeva M, Martynova L, Bekenov M, Kholov B, Ibragimov N, Kobilov R (2013) Impact of climate change on wheat productivity in Central Asia. Agric Ecosyst Environ 178:78–99
SuAREZ DL (1977) Ion activity products of calcium carbonate in waters below the root zone 1. Soil Sci Soc Am J 41(2):310–315
Suarez D (1981) Relation Between pHc and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and an alternative method of estimating SAR of soil or drainage waters 1. Soil Sci Soc Am J 45(3):469–475
Suarez DL (2012) Irrigation water quality assessments. In: Wallender WW, Tanji KK (eds) Agricultural salinity assessment and management. ASCE manual and reports on engineering practice No. 71. ASCE, Reston. pp 343–370
USDA (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. USDA agricultural handbook no. 60.
Wang Q, Huo Z, Zhang L, Wang J, Zhao Y (2016) Impact of saline water irrigation on water use efficiency and soil salt accumulation for spring maize in arid regions of China. Agric Water Manag 163:125–138
Watto MA, Mugera AW (2016) Groundwater depletion in the indus plains of Pakistan: imperatives, repercussions and management issues. Int J River Basin Manag 14(4):447–458
Wichelns D, Qadir M (2015) Achieving sustainable irrigation requires effective management of salts, soil salinity, and shallow groundwater. Agric Water Manag 157:31–38
Wilcox L, Blair GY, Bower C (1954) Effect of bicarbonate on suitability of water for irrigation. Soil Sci 77(4):259–266
WRI C (2010) Climate analysis indicators tool (CAIT) version 7.0. World Resources Institute Washington, DC, USA
Yasin M, Muhammed S, Rauf A (1985) Sorghum yield as influenced by water quality, leaching fraction and its corelation with indices of salinity. Pak J Soil Sci 1(3):1–12
Yasin M, Niazi BH, Rafique E (2001) Management of high bicarbonate irrigation waters for growing crops. Int J Agric Biol 3:312–315
Yunus M (1977) Water quality in the indus plains. In: Proceedings of water management for agriculture (EXXON seminar). pp 15–17
Zia MH, Ghafoor A, Boers TM (2006) Comparison of sulfurous acid generator and alternate amendments to improve the quality of saline-sodic water for sustainable rice yields. Paddy Water Environ 4(3):153–162
Zia MH, Saifullah SM, Ghafoor A, Murtaza G (2007) Effectiveness of sulphuric acid and gypsum for the reclamation of a calcareous saline-sodic soil under four crop rotations. J Agron Crop Sci 193(4):262–269
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Dr. Abdul Ghafoor (Professor (Rtd.), University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan) for critically reviewing the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Murtaza, G., Rehman, M.Z., Qadir, M. et al. High residual sodium carbonate water in the Indian subcontinent: concerns, challenges and remediation. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 18, 3257–3272 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-03066-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-03066-4