Correlation of brackish water and chemical properties of silty clay loamsoil

An experiment was conducted at University of Agriculture, Faisalabadto evaluate the effect of brackish water on chemical properties of siltyclay loam soil Bhalwal series, pHs = 7.70, ECe = 3.20 dS m-1 and SAR = 3.70(mmol L-1) .1/2]. Forty disturbed and undisturbed soil columns (20 in eachcase, 76-cm long and 30-cm diameter) were used. The synthetic brackishwaters having different EC (0.64, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 7.35 dS m-1), SAR [3.95,9.65, 18.0, 26.35 and 32.0 (mmol L-1) 1/2] and RSC (0.64, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and7.35 mmolc L-1) were applied to these soil columns for three years.Synthetic brackish waters were prepared by dissolving the requiredamount of salts (NaCI, Na2SO4, NaHCO3, CaCl2.6H2O, MgSO4.7H2O andNH4HCO3) in canal/ distilled water. Soil samples were obtained from thesesoil columns for various chemical determinations after three years. TheCentral Composite Rota-table Second Order Incomplete Factorial design withthree variables each at five levels was followed to analyze the data. Anincrease in ECiw, SARiw and RSC of irrigation water increased the Ece ofthe disturbed and undisturbed soil. The correlation found for ECiw, SARiwand RSC with the ECe of the soil were highly significant in both soils. SoilpHs and SAR were not affected by ECiw in both disturbed and undisturbedsoils. The SARiw and RSC significantly increased soil pHs and SAR in bothsoil types. The CaCO3 contents were increased by all the water parametersbut effect of ECiw was non-significant in both soils. The SARiw and RSCsignificantly increased CaCO3 content in each soil type. All interactionsbetween these parameters were non-significant for soil pHs, SAR andCaCO3.