• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.349-355
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• 2008

The causes of salt accumulation in soils of plastic film houses nearby Sumjin river estuary in Mokdo-ri($127^{\circ}46'E\;35^{\circ}1'N$), Hadong, Gyeongnam, Korea were investigated in 2006. With chemical properties soils and water analyzed and fertilization status monitored, the study showed that mean salt concentration of soil was much higher at EC $4.3\;dS\;m^{-1}$ than the Korean average (EC $2.9\;dS\;m^{-1}$) in 2000s for plastic film house's soil with exchangeable Na $0.8\;cmol^+\;kg^{-1}$ and water-soluble Cl $232\;mg\;kg^{-1}$, and then might result to salt damage in sensitive crop plants. Salt concentration of ground water used as main irrigation water source contained very high EC with corresponding value of $2.6\;dS\;m^{-1}$. Particularly, increase of EC value was directly proportional with the increased pumping of ground water used as a water-covering system in order to protect the temperature inside plastic film houses from the early winter season. High Na and Cl portion of ions in water might had contributed to the specific ion damage in the crops. Secondly, heavy inputs of chemicals and composts significantly increased the accumulated salts in soil. Conclusively, salt accumulation might had been accelerated by use of salted-groundwater irrigation and heavy fertilization rate. To minimize this problem, ensuring good quality of irrigation water is essential as well as reducing fertilization level.