Effect of salinity soil improvement on crop production

Soil salinity accumulated in lower areas with the water movements and high evaporation in Hexi irrigated agricultural region. The accumulation of salinity resulted in the unsuitable conditions for forage and crop growing. The objective of this study was to test the productivity of forages and crops that were cultivated on the plots where the original salt content (0 to 10 cm) was about 18% to 42% and the salt was removed through washing channels. The results indicated that the grass and protein yields of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) were increased by 0.53 times and 3.57 times compared with beer barley (Hordeum vulgare) under 240m distance between two washing channels. They were 1.38 times and 5.60 times, 4.82 times and 16.31 times higher than the yields of beer barley under 350m distance between two washing channels and the yields of the untreated area (natural grassland), respectively.