约旦河谷土壤含盐量变化对其灌溉农业可持续发展的潜在危害研究

The integrated effect of irrigation and agricultural practices on soil salinity in the Jordan Valley （JV）, where over 60% of Jordan’s agricultural produce is grown, was investigated in this study during 2009-2010. Due to the differences in agricultural operations, cropping patterns, irrigation management, and weather conditions, 206 top- and sub-soil samples were taken every 1 to 3 km from representative farms along a north-south （N-S） transect with 1 to 2 km lateral extents. Soil electrical conductivity of saturated extract (EC_se), Ca, Mg, K, Na, Cl, and Na adsorption ratio （SAR） were determined in saturated paste extracts. Results indicated that about 63% of soils in the JV are indeed saline, out of which almost 46% are moderately to strongly saline. Along the N-S transect of the JV, EC_se increased from 4.5 to 14.1 dS m^-1 in top-soil samples. Similar increase was observed for the sub-soil samples. The major chemical components of soil salinity; i.e., Ca, Mg, and Cl, also showed a similar increase along the N-S transect of the valley. Moreover, compared to previous field sampling, results showed that changes in soil salinity in the JV were dramatic. In addition, it was found that Cl imposed an existing and potential threat to sensitive crops in 60% of the soils in the JV, where Cl concentrations were greater than 710 mg L^-1. Under the prevalent arid Mediterranean conditions, improving the management of irrigation water, crops, and nutrient inputs and increasing water and fertilizer use efficiencies should be indispensable to conserve and sustain the already fragile agricultural soils in the JV.     

Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon in China’s Village Landscapes

Village landscapes, which integrate small-scale agriculture with housing, forestry, and a host of other land use practices, cover more than 2 million square kilometers across China. Village lands tend to be managed at very fine spatial scales (≤ 30 m), with managers both adapting their practices to existing variation in soils and terrain (e.g., fertile plains vs. infertile slopes) and also altering soil fertility and even terrain by terracing, irrigation, fertilizing, and other land use practices. Relationships between fine-scale land management patterns and soil organic carbon (SOC) in the top 30 cm of village soils were studied by sampling soils within fine-scale landscape features using a regionally weighted landscape sampling design across five environmentally distinct sites in China. SOC stocks across China’s village regions (5 Pg C in the top 30 cm of 2 × 10 6 km 2 ) represent roughly 4% of the total SOC stocks in global croplands. Although macroclimate varied from temperate to tropical in this study, SOC density did not vary significantly with climate, though it was negatively correlated with regional mean elevation. The highest SOC densities within landscapes were found in agricultural lands, especially paddy, the lowest SOC densities were found in nonproductive lands, and forest lands tended toward moderate SOC densities. Due to the high SOC densities of agricultural lands and their predominance in village landscapes, most village SOC was found in agricultural land, except in the tropical hilly region, where forestry accounted for about 45% of the SOC stocks. A surprisingly large portion of village SOC was associated with built structures and with the disturbed lands surrounding these structures, ranging from 18% in the North China Plain to about 9% in the tropical hilly region. These results confirmed that local land use practices, combined with local and regional variation in terrain, were associated with most of the SOC variation within and across China’s village landscapes and may be an important cause of regional variation in SOC.     

Contrasted Impact of Land Abandonment on Soil Erosion in Mediterranean Agriculture Fields

Abandonment of agricultural land results in on-and off-site consequences for the ecosystem. In this study, 105 rainfall simulations were carried out in agriculture lands of the Mediterranean belt in Spain(vineyards in Málaga, almond orchards in Murcia, and orange and olive orchards in Valencia) and in paired abandoned lands to assess the impact of land abandonment on soil and water losses. After abandonment, soil detachment decreased drastically in the olive and orange orchards, while vineyards did not show any difference and almond orchards registered higher erosion rates after the abandonment. Terraced orchards of oranges and olives recovered a dense vegetation cover after the abandonment, while the sloping terrain of almond orchards and vineyards enhanced the development of crusts and rills and a negligible vegetation cover resulted in high erosion rates. The contrasted responses to land abandonment in Mediterranean agricultural lands suggest that land abandonment should be programmed and managed with soil erosion control strategies for some years to avoid land degradation.     

一种测定土壤水分迁移率的方法研究

A new laboratory method was proposed to establish an easily performed standard for the determination of mobile soil water close to real conditions during the infiltration and redistribution of water in a soil. It consisted of applying a water volume with a tracer ion on top of an undisturbed ring sample on a pressure plate under a known suction or pressure head. Afterwards, soil water mobility was determined by analyzing the tracer-ion concentration in the soil sample. Soil water mobility showed to be a function of the applied water volume. No relation between soil water mobility and applied pressure head could be established with data from the present cxperiment. A simple one- or two-parameter equation can be fitted to the experimental data to parameterize soil water mobility as a function of applied solute volume. Sandy soils showed higher mobility than loamy＂ soils at low values of applied solute volumes, and both sandy and loamy soils showed an almost complete mobility at high applied solute volumes.     

中国三种典型耕作土壤的农学土壤测试磷与环境学土壤测试磷的关系研究

A study was conducted to determine the relationships between agronomic soil test P and environmental soil test P in three soils predominately distributing in three typical agricultural production areas of China. Soil P was analyzed using Bray-1 （BP）, Olsen （OP）, and Mehlich-3 （MP） methods as agronomic tests, and using Fe-oxide impregnated filter paper （FeP）, anion-exchange resin membrane （RP）, and water （WP） as environmental tests. There were linear relationships between soil P extractable with all the tests evaluated. The regression coefficients, R^2, ranged from 0.8164 to 0.9409 between each two of the agronomic soil test P, and ranged from 0.4702 to 0.8990 between each two of the environmental soil test P, when the three soils were considered separately. When soil test P was analyzed across all the three soils, the highest regression R^2 was found between OP and MP （0.7940） amongst agronomic soil test P, and between FeP and RP amongst environmental soil test P （0.8842）. While all of the three agronomic soil test P was linearly related to each of the environmental soil test P across the three soils, strongest relationships were found between OP and environmental soil test P. Agronomic OP may be adopted as an analytical tool for environmental prediction of soil P.     

可耕种坡地的土壤水力参数非均质性变化

The spatial variations of the soil hydraulic properties were mainly considered in vertical direction. The objectives of this study were to measure water-retention curves, θ（ψ）, and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions, K（ψ）, of the soils sampled at different slope positions in three directions, namely, in vertical direction, along the slope and along the contour, and to determine the effects of sampling direction and slope position of two soil catenas. At the upper slope positions, the surface soils （0-10 cm） sampled in the vertical direction had a lower soil water content, 0, at a certain soil water potential （-1 500 kPa 〈 ψ 〈 -10 kPa） and had the greatest unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, K, at ψ 〉 -10 kPa. At the lower slope positions, K at ψ〉 -10 kPa was smaller in the vertical direction than in the direction along the slope. The deep soils （100 110 cm） had similar soil hydraulic properties in all the three directions. The anisotropic variations of the hydraulic properties of the surface soils were ascribed to the effects of natural wetting and drying cycles on the structural heterogeneity. These results suggested that the anisotropy of soil hydraulic properties might be significant in influencing soil water movement along the slope and need to be considered in modeling.     

集约化管理的温室土壤养分现状研究

Nine districts covering the main greenhouse vegetable areas in Tianjin Municipality of the North China Plain were selected for the soil investigation in 2010 to survey the current soil nutrient status (soil available N, P and K), acidification and salinization due to excessive input of fertilizers in greenhouses in Tianjin. The study showed that, in particular, soil available P content increased with the age of greenhouses. In contrast, our results did not reveal higher K accumulation and lowered pH in the greenhouse soils compared with cultivation in open fields. Over-fertilization, causing high NO 3 accumulation, most likely resulted in salinity problems in the greenhouses. Ninety percent of the investigated greenhouse soils had electrical conductivity values of saturated paste extracts of 2-10 d S m-1 , which might affect the yields of vegetable crops like green bean, pepper, cabbage, carrot, eggplant, lettuce, spinach, celery, cucumber and tomato. The findings of our survey of the current fertility and salinity problems in greenhouse soils suggest that there is an urgent need to improve the farmers’ practices and strategies in fertilization management in greenhouses of China. Because education and the agricultural technical extension services may play a more important role in avoiding overuse of fertilizers, we suggest that current nutrient management practices should be improved in the near future through training of local farmers in farmers’ schools and through strengthening the agricultural extension services with practical techniques.     

半干旱草地上的生态地理响应: 综述

The ecogeomorphic processes occurring on semiarid rangelands are reviewed, with emphasis on the source-sink relations and positive feedback loops that existed between shrub patches and intershrub areas, and the way livestock presence affected these interactions. Compared with intershrub areas, the shrub patches had a higher soil porosity, infiltration capacity, water-holding capacity, hydraulic conductivity, structural stability, and organic matter content, and lower bulk density. These differences derived from a host of processes whose intensity was less in the shrub patches, including raindrop impact, mechanical crust formation, overland water flow, soil erosion, evaporative moisture loss, and flock trampling. There was also greater shading of the soil surface; soil and litter deposition; water accumulation; microbial, fungal, and mesofaunal activities in the shrub patches. The overland flow of water carried soil and litter from the intershrub areas to the shrub patches and resulted in microtopographic modifications that tended to strengthen these source-sink relations. Grazing had an impact on these processes, not only at the shrub-intershrub scale but also within the intershrub areas, through the creation of highly compacted trampling routes. The combined role of the above ecogeomorphic processes was to maintain the rangeland’s functionality. Without these inter-relationships, water loss, soil erosion, and nutrient depletion would occur at the hillside scale, causing degradation of the landscape.     

应用危险确认模型评估土地管理的可持续发展

New Zealand is highly dependent on its soil resource for continued agricultural production.To avoid depleting this resource,there is a need to identify soils and associated land management practices where there is a risk of soil degradation.Environmental integraity and ecosystem services also need to be maintoained.Accordingly,to ensure sustainable production,The on -and off-site environmental impacts of aldn management need to be identified and managed.We developed a structural vulnerability index for New Zealand soils.This index ranks solis according to their inherent susceptibility to physical degradation when used for agricultural (pasture,forestry and cropping) Purposes.We also developed a rule-based model to assess soil sompaction vulnerability by characterising the combined effects of resistance and resilience,Other soil attributes have been approatised using seven chemical,physical and biological indicators of soil quality.These indicators have been applied in a nation -wide project involving data collection from over 500 sites for a range of land uses.These soil quality data can be interpreted via the World Wide Web -through the in teractive decisionsupport tool SINDI,The land-use impact model is a framework to assess agricultural land management and environmental sustainability,and may be applied to land units at any scale.Using land resource data and information the model explicitly identifies hazards to land productivity and environmental integrity,It utilises qualitative expert and local knowledge and quantitative model-based evaluations to assess the potential environmental impacts of land-management pratices.The model is linked to a geographic information system(GIS),allowing model outputs.such at the environmental impacts of site-specific best management practices,to be identified in a spatially explicit manner,The model has been tested in New Zealand in an area of pastoral land use.Advantages of this risk identification model include:utilising current knowledege of the causes and effects of land-management practices on soil degradation;linking land management practice to both on-and off-site environmental consequences;identifying important gaps in local knowledge,and providing spatially explicit information on the environmental impact of land-management practices.     

环境与人为因子对水稻土有机质变化的影响——以长江中下游平原为例

Changes in soil organic matter (SOM) can affect food security,soil and water conservation,and climate change.However,the drivers of changes in SOM in paddy soils of China are not fully understood because the effects of agricultural management and environmental factors are studied separately.Soil,climate,terrain,and agricultural management data from 6 counties selected based on representative soil types and cropping systems in China were used in correlation analysis,analysis of variance,and cforest modeling to analyze the drivers of changes in SOM in paddy soils in the Middle and Lower Yangtze River Plain from 1980 to 2011.The aims of this study were to identify the main factors driving the changes in SOM and to quantitatively evaluate their individual impacts.Results showed that the paddy SOM stock in the study area increased by 12.5％ at an average rate of 0.023 kg m-2 year-1 over the 31-year study period.As a result of long-term rice planting,agricultural management practices had a greater influence than soil properties,climate,and terrain.Among the major drivers,straw incorporation,the most influential driver,together with fertilization and tillage practices,significantly increased the accumulation of SOM,while an increase in temperature significantly influenced SOM decomposition.Therefore,to confront the challenge of rising temperatures,it is important to strengthen the positive effects of agricultural management.Rational fertilizer use for stabilizing grain production and crop straw incorporation are promising measures for potential carbon sequestration in this region.     

Variation Of Water Retention In Various Soils Of Kuwait

Soil properties varied in water retention; due to soil texture and organic matter content. Variations of texture in many soils are effected mostly to soil forming factors of parent materials of the soil, biological activities, climactic variation, and duration of soil reaction. While the organic matter contents are affected totally by the environmental conditions of the soils. Water holding capacity of different soils influences plants growth and development in diverse soil characteristics of the world and determines soil productivity. Water resources for agricultural activities are limited, particularly in arid environment and soil water holding capacity of arid soil is very low. Kuwait can be good example of arid environment with limited water resources for agriculture activities and possess soil of coarse texture with very low organic matter content (Anonymous, 1997). Agricultural development in Kuwait meets many problems for crop production and urban landscaping. Water resources are limited and the quality is deteriorating at the same time soil water holding capacity is very low. Enormous amount of water, particularly desalinated expensive water is wasted for agricultural activities. This paper will study various parts of Kuwaiti soils water holding capacity and develop water retention data for efficient water irrigation and improvement of plant growth.     

Variation of Water Retention in Various Soils of Kuwait

Soil properties varied in water retention; due to soil texture and organic matter content. Variations of texture in many soils are effected mostly to soil forming factors of parent materials of the soil; biological activities; climactic variation; and duration of soil reaction. While the organic matter contents are affected totally by the environmental conditions of the soils. Water holding capacity of different soils influences' plant growth and development in diverse soil characteristics of the world and determines soil productivity. Water resources for agricultural activities are limited, particularly in arid environment and soil water-holding capacity of arid soil is very low. Kuwait can be good example of arid environment with limited water resources for agriculture activities and possess soil of coarse texture with very low organic matter content (Anonymous, 1997). Agricultural development in Kuwait meets many problems for crop production and urban landscaping. Water resources are limited and the quality is deteriorating at the same time soil water holding capacity is very low. Enormous amount of water, particularly desalinated expensive water is wasted for agricultural activities. This paper will study various parts of Kuwaiti soils water holding capacity and develop water retention data for efficient water irrigation and improvement of plant growth.     

Tillage – impact on infiltration of the Loess Plateau of China

In arid and semiarid regions, water infiltration is often affected by the soil surface conditions, such as the soil crusts and soil roughness. The objective of this laboratory study was to assess the effects of soil crusts and tillage treatments on soil infiltration in the Loess Plateau of China. A simulated rainfall storm at 80 mm h^?1 rate was applied to soil boxes set to slopes of 5°, 10°, 15° and 20° with two soil surface conditions (crusted and uncrusted) and three tillage treatments (contour tillage [CT], artificial digging [AD] and straight slope [SS]) to investigate the infiltration rates. The results show that the infiltration rate was always lower under the SS treatment than under the CT and AD treatments. The time interval to the steady state was shorter under the SS (10 min) than under the CT and AD treatments (15–20 min). The final infiltration rate was nearly the same under the CT treatment and AD treatment; whereas, the SS treatment resulted in the lowest final infiltration rate. The infiltration rates were always greater in soils without crusts than in soils with crusts. The slopes, soil crusts and tillage treatments had significant (p < 0.001) effects on the cumulative infiltration rates. The combined effects of the slopes and tillage treatments on the cumulative infiltration rates were much more significant (p < 0.01) than the other combined effects (p < 0.05).     

Geomorphic features and soil formation of arid lands in Northeastern Jordan

Arid and semiarid lands occupy about one-third of the Earth's land surface. Interpretation of soil formation and geomorphic features of arid lands is needed to assess their soil ecological potentials, limitations, problems and management needs. The objective of this paper was to study the geomorphic features and soil formation of the arid lands in northeastern Jordan, to provide information that could be used by land managers in the study area and other arid land areas. Five representative soil pedons were excavated and described in the field. Soil samples from each horizon per pedon were taken to the laboratory for chemical and physical analyses. Geomorphic features of the area were also studied. Most of studied land surfaces are plains where eolian deflation has exposed loose gravels consisting predominantly of pebbles forming desert pavements. Desert pavements cover most of the land surface, excluding the mud playas, and are composed of basalt clasts. The accumulation of calcium carbonate and gypsum within these soils create problems for their agricultural development. Accumulation of eolian fine-grained silt has resulted in the formation of a vesicular horizon. The climatic variations during the late quaternary and the late Holocene periods contributed to the development of the desert pavement and the vesicular horizons. Clay illuviation and argillic horizon development within these soils is assumed to be a relict feature from more humid climates during the Quaternary. Sustainable agricultural development of such arid lands may not be easy. In general, these soils have high erodibility, high runoff generation potential, high susceptibility to seal and crust formation, poor water-holding capacity, pedon hardening and structural instability.     

Biological soil crust development affects physicochemical characteristics of soil surface in semiarid ecosystems

Water and nutrients are scarce resources in arid and semiarid ecosystems. In these regions, biological soil crusts (BSCs) occupy a large part of the soil surface in the open spaces surrounding patches of vegetation. BSCs affect physicochemical soil properties, such as aggregate stability, water retention, organic carbon (OC) and nitrogen (N) content, associated with primary ecosystem processes like water availability and soil fertility. However, the way BSCs modify soil surface and subsurface properties greatly depends on the type of BSC. We hypothesised that physicochemical properties of soil crusts and of their underlying soils would improve with crust development stage. Physicochemical properties of various types of soil crusts (physical crusts and several BSC development stages) and of the underlying soil (soil layers 0–1 cm and 1–5 cm underneath the crusts) in two semiarid areas in SE Spain were analysed. The properties that differed significantly depending on crust development stage were aggregate stability, water content (WC) (at −33 kPa and −1500 kPa), OC and N content. Aggregate stability was higher under well-developed BSCs (cyanobacterial, lichen and moss crusts) than under physical crusts or incipient BSCs. WC, OC and N content significantly increased in the crust and its underlying soil with crust development, especially in the first centimetre of soil underneath the crust. Our results highlight the significant role of BSCs in water availability, soil stability and soil fertility in semiarid areas.     

施肥措施对砂姜黑土水分入渗性能的影响

土壤水分入渗是降雨和灌溉水转变为土壤有效水的过程,是降水、地表水、土壤水和地下水相互作用的环节,是影响作物水分利用效率的重要因素。砂姜黑土黏粒含量高,具有楔型结构等障碍因子,水分入渗性能和持水能力较弱,作物水分利用效率低。改良土体结构是提高土壤入渗与持水能力,增加作物水分利用效率的重要途径。为研究施肥措施对砂姜黑土理化性质及水分入渗性能的影响,设置不施肥对照(CK)、测土配方施肥(PF)、测土配方施肥+秸秆还田(PF+JG)和测土配方施肥+粉煤灰(PF+FMH)4个试验处理,进行小麦-玉米田间轮作试验。研究了土壤容重、颗粒组成、总孔隙度和有机质含量的变化规律,分析了土壤水分入渗特征及其与土壤理化性质之间的关系。结果表明,PF+JG、PF+FMH处理使土壤有机质含量分别较CK和PF提高18.01%、8.92%和11.18%、2.61%,土壤容重分别降低12.90%、11.29%和4.48%、2.98%,土壤总孔隙度分别增加13.89%、5.87%和12.46%、4.56%,土壤水分累积入渗量分别增加98.08%、90.39%和34.64%、29.41%。PF+JG(1.18×10-4 m·s-1)和PF+FMH(1.13×10-4 m·s-1)处理的土壤水分稳定入渗速率分别是CK(5.92×10-5 m·s-1)和PF(8.73×10-5 m·s-1)的1.99倍、1.91倍和1.35倍、1.29倍。土壤水分稳定入渗速率与有机质及总孔隙度显著正相关(P0.01),与土壤容重呈显著负相关(P0.05)。该研究表明,秸秆还田和粉煤灰处理,可提高土壤有机质含量,降低土壤容重,增加土壤孔隙度,提高土壤水分稳渗速率,可为土壤水分入渗性能提升提供理论依据。     

Soil Structural Stability and Water Retention Characteristics Under Different Land uses of Degraded Lower Himalayas of North‐West India

The lower Himalayan regions of north‐west India experienced a severe land‐use change in the recent past. A study was thus conducted to assess the effect of grassland, forest, agricultural and eroded land uses on soil aggregation, bulk density, pore size distribution and water retention and transmission characteristics. The soil samples were analysed for aggregate stability by shaking under water and water drop stability by using single simulated raindrop technique. The water‐stable aggregates (WSA) >2 mm were highest (17·3 per cent) in the surface layers of grassland, whereas the micro‐aggregates (WSA < 0·25 mm) were highest in eroded soils. The water drop stability followed the similar trend. It decreased with the increase in aggregate size. Being lowest in eroded soils, the soil organic carbon also showed an adverse effect of past land‐use change. The bulk density was highest in eroded lands, being significantly higher for the individual aggregates than that of the bulk soils. The macroporosity (>150 µm) of eroded soils was significantly (p < 0·05) lower than that of grassland and forest soils. The grassland soils retained the highest amount of water. Significant (p < 0·05) effects of land use, soil depth and their interaction were observed in water retention at different soil water suctions. Eroded soils had significantly (p < 0·05) lower water retention than grassland and forest soils. The saturated hydraulic conductivity and maximum water‐holding capacity of eroded soils were sufficiently lower than those of forest and grassland soils. These indicated a degradation of soil physical attributes due to the conversion of natural ecosystems to farming system and increased erosion hazards in the lower Himalayan region of north‐west India. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Causes and Effects of Gully Erosion on Agricultural Lands and the Environment

This study was aimed at assessing the causes of the gully erosion and its effects on the agricultural lands in the arid region of southeastern Iran. In this study, we have used geologic maps in scales of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000, aerial photographs on a scale of 1:20,000, field observation, and GPS (global positioning system). Three soil samples were taken from 25, 50, and 75% of the gully length at each location and analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), cation exchange capacity (CEC), calcium (Ca), and soil texture. The causes of gully erosion, its effects on agricultural lands, characteristics of the gullies, soil depth, and vegetation of each area were evaluated. The results show that several parameters, including poor rangeland vegetation cover, overgrazing, human activities, intensive and short-period rainfall, improper land use, improper irrigation design, improper discharge of water in the channels, and soil characteristics influence the gully erosion. Gully erosion causes severe damage to agricultural lands, including soil loss, increase in surface runoff, lower soil water-holding capacity, lower quality and quantity of water, lower groundwater table, and lower agricultural production. It increased migration from villages to cities and increased socioeconomic problems and poverty. It also caused substantial damages to construction sites such as bridges, roads, and settlements as well as rivers and reservoirs and increased sediment concentration in rivers.     

北京市松山不同海拔油松林枯落物及土壤水文效应

以北京市松山4个海拔梯度(751,890,1 012和1 211m)的油松(Pinus tabuliformis Carr)天然林为对象,对其枯落物层及土壤层水文效应进行研究。结果表明:(1)枯落物总蓄积量、枯落物最大持水量和最大持水率均随海拔的升高先增大后减小;(2)枯落物的总储量为9.03~27.75t/hm2,最大持水量为26.66~90.54t/hm2,与浸泡时间呈明显的对数关系(R0.93);最大持水率为287.62%~296.73%,与浸泡时间呈明显的幂函数关系(R0.99);(3)土壤容重随海拔升高而减小,其变化范围为1.38~1.66g/cm3,总孔隙度随海拔升高先减小后增大;(4)土壤初渗速率相差较大,稳渗速率为1.95~7.06mm/min,入渗速率与入渗时间呈幂函数关系(R0.70)。综合分析得出,低海拔油松天然林水源涵养功能较强。     

Tillage Effects on Crop Yield and Physicochemical Properties of Sodic Soils

Tillage modifies soil structure and has been suggested as a practice to improve physical, hydrological and chemical properties of compacted soils. But little is known about effect of long‐term tillage on physicochemical soil properties and crop yield on sodic soils in India. Our objective was to investigate the effect of different tillage regimes on crop yield (wheat and paddy rice) and physicochemical properties of sodic soils. Two sodic sites under conventional tillage for 5 (5‐YT; 5‐year tillage) and 9 (9‐YT; 9‐year tillage) years were selected for this study. Changes in crop yield and physicochemical soil properties were compared with a control, sodic land without any till history, that is, 0‐year tillage/untilled (0‐YT). Five replicated samples at 0‐ to 10‐cm and 10‐ to 20‐cm soils depths were analysed from each site. In the top, 0‐ to 10‐cm soil depth 5‐YT and 9‐YT sites had higher particle density (Pd), porosity, water holding capacity, hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon, total nitrogen (N_t), available nitrogen (N_avail), phosphorus (P_avail) and exchangeable calcium (Exch. Ca⁺⁺) than 0‐YT, whereas bulk density (Bd), C : N ratio and CaCO₃ were significantly lower. Bd, pH, EC and CaCO₃ increased significantly with depth in all the lands, whereas Pd, porosity, water holding capacity, hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon, N_t, N_avail, P_avail and Exch. Ca⁺⁺ decreased. We conclude that continuous tillage and cropping can be useful for physical and chemical restoration of sodic soils. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.