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15 m acres land becomes victim of water-logging and
salinity
ISLAMABAD-Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Khair
Muhammad Junejo on Tuesday said more than 15 million
acres of barren land may be made cultivable by adopting easy
and cheap process recommended by the Agriculture
Department.
He said Water-logging and Salinity had made barren more than
15 million acres of cultivable land across the country.
In Punjab province which is called the land of five rivers,
about 6.5 million acres land has become barren owing to
salinity and non-cultivation, he added.
The Minister said the salinity is also one of the major causes
of less per acre yield. Three types of salinity across the
country including white, black and white-black salinity.
In white saline land, he said, the layer of saline on the
surface contains more than 0.15 percent salt and it has less
than 15 percent sodium. Junejo said, extra salt affects
the growth of plants while the layer of sodium makes the land
hard in which water and air
cannot pass.
In black saline land, salt is not less than 0.3 percent while
sodium is more than 15 percent. In such type of land, plants
usually do not grow, he added.
Most of barren land, he said, is victim of white-black
salinity having high quantity of sodium and salts. He advised
the farmers to analyze their land by testing samples of soil
in laboratories set up in every district.
Use of gypsum is more effective which easily changes barren
land into fertile land because, he said, the gypsum starts
chemical process in the saline land and converts sodium into
solvent of water.
This solution of sodium and water absorbs in the soil and go
beneath the land eliminating symptoms of salinity. After
analyzing the sample of soil in the laboratory, he said, the
type of salinity in the land can be identified and measures
can be recommended for the rehabilitation of land.
The laboratory tests also apprise that how much quantity of
gypsum can convert the barren land into productive land, he
added. He was of the view that besides gypsum, by growing many
crops including rice, farmers can remove the salinity. The
land, without cultivation, slowly becomes victim of salinity.
November 21, 2001
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