ProCrop 1999

ANNUAL CROPS FOR SALINE SOILS MANAGEMENT

In a recharge area, which is the source of the water which carries salts to a discharge site, a perennial, deep-rooted crop is best at limiting discharge. The next choice is a deep-rooted, long season annual. The third choice is any annual crop. The following crops are ranked by their potential contribution to limiting salt water discharge from a recharge area: alfalfa> sweet clover> sunflower, safflower> barley, wheat, soybean, durum wheat and canola.

A crop rotation could be designed so that a combination of perennial and annual crops could be used to diversify the system to meet goals of improved soil quality and profitability. The most important point, no matter what cropping system is used, is to continuously crop the recharge area with something green for as long a period as possible.

In the discharge area, a salt-tolerant crop will be the only crop which can be grown. A list of crops and general crop tolerances are given in Tables 2-4, available elsewhere in the data base. These lists are very general. There may be situations when the most salt-tolerant crops do not perform well in these areas. There may be other situations in which sensitive crops do quite well. There will also be differences between varieties of the same crop. Information concerning the salt tolerance of specific varieties should be obtained from a commercial seed source before making a selection. It will also be important to note Table 1, which shows that there are differences in the ability of crops to tolerate salt at germination and later on. Sugarbeets, once established, are one of the most salt-tolerent crops available, but, they are very sensitive to salt levels at germination.

For more information, consult NDSU Ext. Circ. SF-1087, Managing Saline Soils in North Dakota

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