What is soil salinity ? Its causes and damages

Soil salinization happens when water-solvent salts gather in the dirt to a level that effects on farming generation, ecological wellbeing, and financial aspects. In the beginning times, saltiness influences the digestion of soil life forms and lessens soil efficiency, however in cutting edge stages it demolishes all vegetation and different living beings living in the dirt, thusly changing rich and profitable land into infertile and desertified lands.
 A clear picture can be seen here

Where is it found ?

It is assessed that salinization influences around 3.8 million ha in Europe. There are diverse reasons for salinization yet watered territories specifically can be influenced by salinization. It is evaluated that 25% of watered cropland in the Mediterranean zone is influenced by direct to high salinization prompting moderate soil degradation. Anticipated temperature increments and changes in precipitation qualities in the Mediterranean are just liable to upgrade the issue of salinization.

Causes	Location
Naturally induced saline soils	Spain, Hungary, Slovakia, Greece, Austria, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria
Artificially induced salinization, such as irrigation	Italy (e.g. Campania and Sicily), Spain (e.g. the Ebro Valley), Hungary (e.g. Great Alfold), Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, France (West coast), the Dalmatian coast of the Balkans, Slovakia and Romania. Also in North Europe countries (e.g. Denmark, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia).
Sea-level rise and surface seawater seepage and sea water infiltrationinto the groundwater	Western Netherlands, Belgium, North-eastern France, and South-eastern England

Map:  Saline (EC > 4 dScm-1 within 100 cm soil depth) and sodic (Na/T > 6% within 100 cm soil depth) soils as primary and secondary limitations to agricultural use and areas of seawater intrusion in the European Union.

What causes it ? 

Regular procedures 

The amassing of salts in the dirt can happen through characteristic procedures, for example, physical or compound weathering and transport from parent material, geographical stores or groundwater. It can likewise happen because of parent shake constituents, for example, carbonate minerals and additionally feldspars or because of the one-time submergence of soils under seawater. Ocean level ascent likewise actuates leakage into regions lying underneath ocean level. In bone-dry regions, saline soils are shaped because of evapotranspiration and absence of precipitation to flush the dirts. At long last, twist in waterfront territories can blow direct measures of salts inland. 

Human activities 

Human exercises can cause salinization using salt-rich water system water, which can be exacerbated by overexploitation of seaside ground water aquifers causing seawater interruption, or because of other wrong water system hones, as well as poor seepage conditions. The extreme utilization of water for water system in dry atmospheres, with substantial soils, causes salt amassing on the grounds that they are not washed out by precipitation. The procedure happens in developed territories where water system is related with high dissipation rates and a mud surface of the dirt. The act of waterlogging without sufficient waste has additionally turned into a genuine aim of soil salinization. Waterlogged soils avoid filtering of the salts imported by the water system water.

How can it be measured?

The below listed are key indicators of soil salinization, the purpose of the indicator and methods used or measuring or assessing soil salinity

1. Soil pH
2. Electrical Conductivity (EC) 
3. Exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP)
4. Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR)