Irrigation with saline water: Opportunities, Limitations and Challenges

1
Irrigation with saline water Opportunities,
Limitations and Challenges
1 Congreso de la Red Argentina de Salinidad

• Steve Grattan, Ph.D
• Department of Land, Air and Water Resources
• University of California, Davis

2
Sierra Nevada Mountains
Low EC irrigation water (lt 0.1 - 0.5 dS/m)
3
Olive oil production and quality as influenced
by different quantities of applied water
High density (1,700 trees/ha) orchard of olive
Arbequina I-18 near Oroville, California
S. Grattan, M.Jo Berenguer, J. Connell, P. Vossen
and V. Polito
4
Growth of Olives at Different Irrigation
Application Rates
15 ET
40 ET
107 ET
89 ET
5
Mechanically harvest olives in California
6

Vegetative growth in relation to irrigation
treatments
Red 15 Orange 25 Yellow 40 Brown 57
Green 71 Grey 87 Blue 107
7
Stem water potential in olive throughout season
8
Mid season 25 June 2002
0
2
15 ET
40 ET
71 ET
107 ET
Driest
Wettest
9
Fruit Color
107 ET
15 ET
10

OIL EXTRACTION PER TREE
Optimum 40-70
11
Irrigation level to optimize oil chemical and
sensory properties 33-40

• Total polyphenol levels oxidative stability
  decreased with increased water
• High level of pleasant fruitiness with both ripe
  fruit and green character
• Balanced bitterness and pungency
• Excess water resulted in bland oils

12
Optimal Irrigation Management for High Density
Olive Orchard

• Optimize vegetative growth of young trees,
  irrigate near Full Etc
• Optimize oil production, irrigate 40-80 ETc
• Optimize oil quality, irrigate near 40 ETc

13
Central Valley of California
Sierra Nevada (Granite rock low salts)
Sacramento Valley
San J
San Joaquin Valley
Coastal Range (Sedimentary rock high salts)
14
Coastal Mountain Range
Sedimentary rock Marine origin Natural source of
salts and trace Elements (Na-sulfate B, Se, Mo)
15
High saline water table in Californias San
Joaquin Valley
Clay layer
Saline water table
16
Salinity Drainage ProblemsCalifornias San
Joaquin Valley

• About 250,000 hectares of salt-affected land
• Saline-sodic soils, high in B Se
• Growers must manage drainage on farm

17
Salinity Drainage ProblemsCalifornias San
Joaquin Valley

• Drainage discharge prohibited after the
• Se toxicity in waterfowl found in mid-1980s
• (Kesterson Reservoir area)

18
Sequential Reuse
Low saline water
Increasing salinity
Solar Evaporator
Salt-tolerant crops and forages
Traditional crops (non-saline)
Halophytes
19
Challenges related to sodicity in addition to
salinity
Units mmol/L
20
Salinity and sodicity impacts on crops
Läuchli and Grattan, 2009 (in press)
21
Saline-sodic Water that Reduced Stand
Establishment

• Cotton stands were reduced in plots that were
  irrigated with saline-sodic water the previous
  year (Shennan et al. 1995 Mitchell et al. 1995
  Goyal et al. 1992)

Although cotton is relatively tolerant
to salinity, it is sensitive during
seedling emergence.
22
EC, SAR and Infiltration
Saline-sodic water
Rain
23
Search for salt tolerant forages
Desirable characteristics
High salt tolerance High biomass production High
forage quality
Forages in sand tanks at the US Salinity
Lab irrigated with either 15 or 25 dS/m
synthetic drainage water 2001-2002
US Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, CA
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Salt Tolerance Parameters
Forage Alfalfa Tall Wheatgrass
Threshold Ece (dS/m) 2.0 7.5
Slope () 7.3 4.2
Rating MS T
ECe 1.5 ECiw (Ayers and Westcot 1985)
Maas and Grattan, 1999
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Forage Production Potential

• Kikuyu Grass
• SW 9720 alfalfa JTWG Bermuda
• Salado alfalfa
• Narrow Leaf Trefoil
• Alkali Sacaton
• Duncan paspalum
• Polo paspalum
• Big Trefoil

1000 kg/ha dw
100 kg/ha dw
DEAD
EC 25 dS/m at 5000 ºCday
26
Organic Quality Evaluation
FORAGE
ALFALFA WHEATGRASS
KIKUYUGRASS Crude Protein
??? ??? ???
Neutral Detergent Fiber ???
? ? Digestible
NDF ??? ???
? Organic Matter
??? ???
? Gas Evolution
??? ???
? Metabolizable Energy ???
??? ? Evaluation
based on harvest 5 ??? excellent
? poor Robinson et al. 2003. Animal Seed and
Feed Technology
27
Salinized Forages of Good to High Quality

• Both Alfalfa varieties
• Duncan paspalum, Narrow leaf trefoil,
• Bermuda grass, Jose Tall Wheatgrass, and
  Polo paspalum.

Red Rock Ranch
Jose Tall Wheatgrass
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Overall Forage Quality

• When salinity influenced forage quality, it did
  so positively.
• High Mo and high S could cause Cu deficiency in
  ruminants
• All forages accumulated S to high levels ( above
  the MTC of 0.4)
• Se accumulated in forage but not to potentially
  toxic levels

Grattan et al, 2004
29
Salinity - Boron interactions in tall wheatgrass
Jose

• Cumulative shoot biomass at the end of the study
  in relation to the electrical conductivity (ECe)
  and boron (Be) in the saturated soil extract.

Diaz and Grattan, 2009
30
Tissue Boron Concentration (mg/kg dry wt)

• Tissue B concentration at different stages of the
  experiment a) 97 days after sowing, b) 174 days
  after sowing, c) 254 days after sowing. Bars
  represent means and standard deviation.

Diaz and Grattan, 2009
31
Tissue Se Concentration

• Tissue Se concentration at different stages of
  the experiment a) 97 days after sowing, b) 174
  days after sowing, c) 254 days after sowing. Bars
  represent means and standard deviation.

Diaz and Grattan, 2009
32
Evaluation of forages irrigated with saline
drainage water containing high Se on ruminant
growth and health
Tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum var. Jose)
Creeping wildrye (Leymus triticoides var.
Rio)
S. Benes, et al 2007 - present
33
Tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum var.
Jose) Creeping wildrye (Leymus triticoides
var. Rio) --
Benes et al. 2002-2004 data
34
Evaluation of forages irrigated with saline
drainage water containing high Se on ruminant
growth and health
S. Benes, S. Juchem, P. Robinson, P.
Chilibroste, P. Vasquez, M Brito and S. Grattan
(CSUF, INIA Uruguay, UC Davis)
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Blood Selenium (mg/L)
April May July
Aug Oct Nov
Recommended safe level
36
Liver Selenium (mg/kg)
April

Nov
Forage P lt 0.001 ForageTime P lt 0.001
Recommended safe level
37
Body weight change
April May
Oct Nov
38
Assessing the Selenium Hazard for Grazing Beef
Cattle

• Se in Blood, liver and muscle samples increased
  in heifers over the irrigation season (both 2007
  ad 2008)
• and were above the recommended safe level
• No clinical signs of Se toxicity were observed
  in the beef heifers in either year of grazing
• Heifers gained weight and were otherwise healthy
  at the end of 2007 and 2008 grazing seasons
• Uncertainties regarding reproductive effects

Benes et al., 2009
39
Salinity-B Interaction Study with Broccoli
Treatments
Salinity Boron Salt type (Cl vs SJV)
Sand-tank system at the US Salinity Lab
Smith et al., 2005
40
Low salt (EC 2 dS/m) High Boron (24 mg/L)
High salt (EC 20 dS/m) High Boron (24 mg/L)
41
Broccoli Heads (fresh wt.)


Recent studies indicate that this effect is pH
dependent
42
Salicornia bigelovii

• One of most salt-tolerant of vascular plants
• Oil in seeds high in polyunsaturated fat
• Young shoots eaten as salad supplement

Glenn et al., 1998
43
Salicornia bigelovii field ET comparable to ETo
ECw 29 dS/m gt 25 mg/L B
Salicornia grown in Mendota, CA
44
Performance of Salicornia bigelovii irrigated
with seawater and hyper-saline drainage water
Grattan et al., 2008
45
Salicornia shoot biomass
46
Cumulative ET and evaporation from both an
evaporation pan and irrigated buckets without
plants (i.e. bare surface treatment).
47
Separating E and T from ET
Stable oxygen isotope composition
Evapotranspiration
Transpiration
Evaporation
H2018
48
Transpiration (T) was 78-100 of ET
49
Summary

• S. bigelovii grows well over the
• range of salinity treatments (19-52 dS/m)
• regardless of whether they were
• irrigated with hyper-saline DW or SW

Salicornia bigelovii
2. Evapotranspiration of this leafless plant
irrigated with seawater-strength drainage water
is nearly as high as non-stressed grass irrigated
with fresh Water. Most water lost as
transpiration. Effective at reducing drainage
volumes.
3. Despite irrigation waters having 28 mg/L
boron, there were no indications of boron
toxicity (lt 150 mg/kg dry wt) and some evidence
suggests boron may be protective of salt damage
50
What is the potential feasibility of irrigating
with saline-sodic drainage water containing high
B, Se and Mo?

• Long-term use of saline-sodic water (up to 10
  years) has been feasible with certain crop
  rotations
• Soil salinity can be readily reduced by leaching
  but concerns over long-term B accumulation in the
  soil
• Stand establishment can be reduced with proper
  management (e.g. gypsum applications)
• Se accumulation in crops and forages has not
  shown to be problematic even in high Se areas
  over the short term
• Uncertainty of long-term effects of S and Se in
  cattle (reproduction?)
• High S and Mo in forages can reduce Cu
  availability in ruminants but high S in itself
  may be problematic over the long term

51
What is the potential feasibility of irrigating
with saline-sodic drainage water containing high
B, Se and Mo? (continued)

• Some evidence that crops are more tolerant to B
  when irrigated with SJV drainage water but
  interaction is pH dependent
• Tree crops (eucalyptus and pistachio) may show
  less injury to B when irrigated with SJV drainage
  water but are still sensitive to injury and
  limits the reuse potential
• More opportunities to study salinity-trace
  element interactions with different crops and in
  different environmental settings