Additional information

Researchers from the INIAV and IDL in Portugal are conducting tests in the pastures and agricultural fields of the Tagus river estuary to analyse which strategies are more suited to counter soil salinisation produced by the rising saline water table. They have found that geophysical methods that use simple electromagnetic antennas carried by hand over the soil, can effectively determine the salinity and also sodicity (dominance of Sodium) in depth. This is an important finding, which will help to monitor the salinisation processes in depth, and over large areas in a rapid and non-invasive way. This monitoring technique allows farmers to have accurate and updated information on the soil salinity conditions and thus adopt soil and irrigation management strategies to avoid salts in deep layers of the soil rising and causing salinisation problems in crops.