For soils high in sodium like those in the areas with irrigation water containing high salt contents (TDS), growing quality produce and crops can be a challenge.

There are a few common methods to treat soils with high sodium contents;

  • Rain events or irrigation with low TDS water to leach the salts out of the root zone and down through the soil profile (both can be hard to organise).
  • Gypsum Application – Gypsum improves soil structure by displacing sodium (and magnesium) on the surface of clay particles with calcium. Gypsum can be applied as broadcast, through foliar or fertigation applications.
  • Humate application – Salt is composed of a metal ion bonded with chlorine. Depending on soil moisture, salt will occur either in solution or as a crystal within the soil. If chelation techniques can capture the metal ions, releasing the chlorine, the salt molecule will be broken. It is generally recognised organic acids common to soil humus are excellent chelating agents. Humic acid can be applied as broadcast, through foliar or fertigation applications.

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