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Quality and suitability of irrigation water
 Total salt concentration
 Relative proportion of sodium to other cations
 Carbonate and bicarbonate concentration
 Boron concentration
Total salt concentration in irrigation water
• Total concentration of soluble salts is the most important single criterion of irrigation water quality
• The harmful effects increases with increase in total salt concentration
• EC - the standard method of evaluating irrigation water for total salts
• EC is the reciprocal of the electrical resistance (dSm-1),
equal to one millimhos cm-1
• EC serves as a guide to know the extent of soluble salts in irrigation water.
2. Relative proportion of sodium to other cations
Sodium Adsorption ration (SAR)
It measures the sodium cations in relation to the calcium and magnesium ions present in a solution and is expressed as