Validation of SALTIRSOIL for the calculation of salt composition and electrical conductivity in horticultural soils

Abstract

A validation exercise of the SALTIRSOIl model developed to predict average major ion content, pH and electrical conductivity in soils under risk of salinisation, has been carried out in two irrigated horticultural subplots cropped to water melon and pepper . Calculated values were compared with depth-averaged measurements made in saturated pastes from soil samples taken at three soil depths during the growing season of 2008. SALTIRSOIL predicts reasonably well ion composition, pH and electrical conductivity of saturation extracts in these studied horticultural soils irrigated by surface systems. Nevertheless, in order to carry out a more complete validation, more plots and crop species are necessary.