Ilker ANGIN^*, Ustun SAHIN & Talip TUNC
Atatürk University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Structures and Irrigation, 25240, Erzurum, TURKEY. *e-mail: iangin@atauni.edu.tr

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT CONCERNING THE USE OF FLY ASH AS A RECLAMATION MATERIAL IN SALINE-SODIC SOILS

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Soil degradation caused by salinization and sodification is a worldwide phenomenon. Therefore, amelioration of these problematic soils is of great importance for sustainable agriculture. The effect of fly ash in reclamation of saline-sodic soils was studied under laboratory conditions using 3 fly ash application rates (2, 4, and 8 t da^-1) and 3 soil types with different salinity and sodicity levels. Results obtained from this study have shown that for heavy textured soil 2 and 4 t da^-1 application rate is much more effective in reducing ESP and EC value, with regard to soil infiltration rate. However, application of fly ash in the rate of 8 t da^-1 decreases infiltration rate, thus does not make any sense on soil ESP value. Results presented in this study showed that fly ash can be used for reclamation of saline-sodic soils. However, its effectiveness in enhancing reclamation depends on some factors such as initial organic matter and lime content, EC and ESP value of the soil and the amount of fly ash applied and the acidity of the leaching water. It can be concluded that, use of fly ash as a reclamation material for saline-sodic soils will not only help to reclaim these soils but also help prevention of environmental pollution.