Managing salinity for sustainable agricultural production in salt-affected soils of irrigated drylands

Declining water quantity and quality poor land, water, crop management practices are leading to increasing soil salinity, land degradation, desertification, threatening the overall sustainability of production system in irrigated drylands. Assessments salinity dynamics indicators under alternative agricultural needed identify right combination that improve while minimizing environmental degradation. The objective this study was assess potential conservation agriculture (CA)-based practices, water-saving irrigation, quality, nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates for improving rice-wheat (RWS) cotton-wheat (CWS) systems salt-affected included mixed-method approaches two years field experiments, profile groundwater simulation using Hydrus-1D model, multi-criteria trade-off analysis holistic assessment innovations RWS CWS. treatments experiments were composed a CA-based irrigation N rates. Fourteen computed from compared evaluate those cropping reveal sustainability. Compared initial conditions, decreased both systems, reduction rate much higher than CWS (by 28%). In RWS, conventional treatment had lowest level, CWS, CA (permeant bed + residue retention) lowest. raised table by 25% long-term scenario with demonstrated that, increased evaporation rates, increases 78% 66% net profit (+81%) organic carbon (SOC) (-15%), but lower productivity (WP) (?147%), nitrogen, energy use efficiency (EUE) (?46%) improved yield (+20%), WP (+26%), SOC (+456%), EUE (36%) system. attempts effectiveness resource technologies such as choice species tillage This showed significance agronomic, soil, salinity. Further, findings strongly role sustainable particularly dryland.