Simulation of Salinization of a Fallow Soil Irrigated with Saline-Sodic Water

A model based on miscible displacement was employed to predict leaching and accumulation of total soluble salts in a sandy loam soil profile on redistribution (2 days after irrigation) as well as evaporation (8 days afterwards). The model was a modified one of Burns, wherein the evaporation limit of the latter was replaced with the actual moisture content in the soil profile for calculating electrical conductivity at field capacity (EC_f). To test this model and that of Burns (given in 1974) experimental data were collected from a 3.6 m x 3.6 m plot for a cycle of three irrigations with water of high salinity and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR). There was a fair agreement between the predicted and observed values of EC_f in various soil layers.