Soil salt is a major factor limiting crop growth. When salt concentrations in the soil are high, the movement of water from the soil to the root is slowed down. When the salt concentrations in the soil are higher than inside the root cells, the soil will draw water from the root, and the plant will wilt and die.

When the build-up of soluble salts in the soil becomes or is expected to become excessive, the salts can be minimized by applying more water than that needed by the crop during the growing season. This extra water moves most of the salts below the root zone by deep percolation (leaching). The rate at which leaching proceeds depends on the amount and quality of water added and soil characteristics. Saline soils cannot be reclaimed by chemical amendments, conditioners or fertilizers but can be reclaimed by leaching. The most effective and economical way for leaching is sprinkler irrigation.

Poor irrigation uniformity, however, can result in salt accumulation in parts of a field. High uniformity consistently move salts beneath the root zone. Xcel-Wobblers and mini-Wobblers are ideal applicators for leaching salts. Their unique off-center rotary action deflector gently delivers an instantaneous uniform pattern.

FAO Field Guide, 20 Things to Know About the Impact of Sale Water on Agricultural Land in Aceh Province – http://www.fao.org/ag/tsunami/docs/saltwater-guide.pdf

Managing Saline Soils by G.E. Cardon, J.G. Davis, T.A. Bauder, and R.M. Waskom @ http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/crops/00503.html