Impact of poor quality irrigation water on soil environment and sugarcane crop

Description

Sugarcane is known to be moderately sensitive to salinity. Sugarcane is favorably adaptable to a wide range of agricultural situations, but its productivity is generally limited by abiotic stress such as drought, salinity, alkalinity, water logging, and cold and high-temperature stress. In the absence of assured surface water supplies, supplemental irrigation with groundwater is highly essential for obtaining higher cane and sugar productivity. However, in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world, due to the inadequate availability of good quality water, the farmers have to use saline and sodic groundwater and wastewater / treated industrial effluent for irrigation. Excess of cations such as sodium and anions like carbonate, bicarbonate, and chloride present in irrigation water, increase soil pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), and Exchangeable Sodium Percentage (ESP) may affect the growth and yield of sugarcane.