The effect of irrigation water quality on the growth of maize plants, electric conductivity and pH of the soil

Abstract

The research aims to determine the response of the Maize crop to irrigation with salt water during the growth stages, and to study the accumulation of salts in the soil, the degree of their interaction, and the efficiency of water use. Three types of irrigation water with salt concentrations (1.5, 4.5, 6.5) dSm-1 with three replicates for every kind water. The Randomized Complete Blocks Design was used in the experiment, and it was statistically analyzed using SPSS. Statistically significant differences were found at the 5% level according to Duncan's method. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences attributed to the salinity of irrigation water at the level of 4.5 dsm-1 (T2), which caused about 50% damage in plant height, root growth, leaf area per cob length, weight of 500 seeds, grain yield, and soil. Compared to salinity if irrigated with 1.5 dsm-1 (T1) salinity of river water. Using water with a salinity of 6.5 dsm-1 (T3) as wastewater resulted in a reduction of all apparent plant characteristics by 75%. An increase in soil salinity was also observed at the end of the experiment compared to its salinity at the beginning of the experiment, and this damage increases with an increase in the electrical conductivity of the water used in irrigation operations. It has been observed that soil PH decreases with increasing soil salinity.