Saltmed Model in Sustainable Irrigation Management in Saudi Arabia.

SALTMED model in Sustainable Irrigation Management in Saudi Arabia Abdulrasoul Alomran, Arafat Alkhasha and Anwar Aly Department of Soil Sciences, Food Sciences and Agriculture, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia Abstract In Saudi Arabia regions where water resources are limited and the cost of fresh water is prohibitive, more efficient irrigation practices are needed to increase crop water productivity (CWP). In this study a conceptual, daily, semi-distributed hydrologic Saltmed model was used to analyze the impact of deficit irrigation using brackish water on soil salinity and final yield, in attempted to evaluate measures to control salinity within Saudi ecosystem. Following its successful calibration, the SALTMED model was subjected to testing against greenhouse data of a 2012-2013 growing seasons of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). The model proved its ability to handle several hydrodynamic processes acting at the same time. Using data of complete cucumber growing seasons, the model successfully predicted the impact of salinity on yield, soil moisture and salinity distribution. Furthermore, the project runs to predict the soil salt distribution and final yield using deferent scenario of irrigation water salinity at deferent growth stage. The best management practices were summarized in this study. Keywords: Soil salinity, water table, cucumber, SALTMED model