Reclamation of saline soil by planting annual euhalophyte Suaeda salsa with drip irrigation: A three-year field experiment in arid northwestern China

Soil salinization threatens agricultural sustainability, especially for arid and semiarid regions. Planting euhalophytes with drip irrigation is proposed to be a feasible solution for the reclamation of saline soils. Thus, by planting an annual halophyte Suaeda salsa with drip irrigation, we assessed the potential of S. salsa to accumulate high amount of salt from soil and change in soil salinity levels in a three-year field study in arid northwestern China. The aboveground parts of S. salsa contained >20% ash salt on a dry weight basis and Na+ and Cl− were the main components. For each year, salt extraction by the aboveground part of S. salsa was ranged from 3749 to 3911 kg ha−1. Soil salinity dramatically decreased year by year by the cultivation of S. salsa, especially in the topsoil layer (0–40 cm). Our study suggested that consecutive cultivation of S. salsa with drip-irrigation is an efficient method to reclaim saline soil in arid and semiarid regions.