SOIL AS RESOURCES

Students: Le Tien Hung, Nguyen Van Hieu

 Content

 Overview of land resources

 Pollution of land resources

 Methods to reclaim saline soils in Vietnam

 Conclusion
 General overview
 Soil is a natural resource, a complex mixture of inorganic
compounds, organic debris, water, air, and the myriad species
of organisms that live in it

 It is a source of nutrients for plants, soil organisms. Directly

or indirectly supply food sources, wood, fiber, and many other
materials ... ensuring human survival.
Figure 1: the soil system
Figure 2: Soil composition
Components of soil: The four major components of soil are shown:
inorganic minerals, organic matter, water, and air

 Air: CO2, O2, N2…Supply oxygen to plants

 Liquid: Water dissolve nutrients
 Inorganic: Nutrients such as: Nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P),
potassium (K)…, sand, clay, silt.
 Organic: microorganisms (dead and alive), and dead animals
and plants in varying stages of decay
Figure 3: Soil types
 CLAY
Clay is difficult to absorb but holds water
well. The clay's thermal amplitude is low
Clay is poorly ventilated
The clay is hardened, making the soil
difficult, and when the drought will crack
and break roots in the soil.
The clay is not suitable for tuber crops.
 LOAM SOIL
o Loam soil contains many nutrients,
moisture and humus
o Loam soil has good water permeability
and drainage and and easy to dig.
o Loam soil contains water, heat, and air,
which is favorable for physical and
chemical processes occurring in the soil.
o Most crops grow and develop well on
this soil type. Loams are the
"friendliest" soils to cultivate
 SANDY SOIL
o The gaps between the particles are large so it
drains easily, so it is easily drought
o Sandy soils have good ventilation but sandy soils
are often poor with humus
o The sandy soil is hot and cold quickly, so it is
detrimental to the growth of plants and
microorganisms.
o The sandy soil is suitable for planting tubers such
as sweet potatoes, potatoes, peanuts, beans,
melon...and industrial crops such as tobacco
 SILT SOIL
Silt is solid, dust-like sediment that water, ice, and wind transport
and deposit. Silt is made up of rock and mineral particles that are
larger than clay but smaller than sand.
Total natural area (as of December 31, 2018) of Viet Nam is
33,123,597 ha, including:
 The area of agricultural land group: 27,289,454 ha. In which,
agricultural land is 11,498,497 ha; forest land is 14,940,863 ha;
aquaculture land is 795,311 ha; 17,005 ha of salt production
land; Other agricultural land is 37,778 ha
 The area of non-agricultural land group: 3,773,750 ha. In which,
residential land is 721,676 ha; special-use land is 1,893,141 ha;
land for religious establishments is 12,088 ha; ...
 The area of unused land: 2,060,393 ha.
 The main soil types in Vietnam
(FAO - UNESCO in 1996)
 Sea sandy soil (Arenosols )
 Salty soil (Salic Fluvisols)
 Alkaline soil (Thionic Fluvisols, Thionic Gleysols)
 Alluvial soil (Fluvisols)
 Gley soil (Gleysol)
 Peat soil (Histosol)
 alkaline salty soil (Solonetz)
 Pumice soil (Andosols)
 Black soil (Luvisols)
 Gray soil (Acrisols)
 Red soil (Ferralsols)
 …
Pollution of soil resources
 Caused by human and nature

 Agricultural activities
 Industrial activities
 Domestic waste
 Soil contaminated alum, salty soil
 Climate, Volcano, erode
Soil pollution due to agricultural waste:

 Soil pollution caused by fertilizers: To increase crop

yields, chemical fertilizers are used in high doses
 Inorganic fertilizers:

Nitrogenous fertilizer (N), phosphate fertilizer (P), potassium

fertilizer (K)
 Organic fertilizer: animal feces, green manure,
compost: when a lot of compost is used in anaerobic
conditions, more organic acids will be generated,
making the soil acidic
 Soil pollution due to plant protection drugs:

Plant protection drugs include: pesticides, herbicides, growth

stimulants…
Soil pollution due to industrial waste:
 waste in the construction industry
 Soil pollution due to metal and plastic waste:
 Chemical waste:
 Soil pollution due to mining:

Red mud lake due to bauxite mining The stream was buried due
in the Western Highlands to mineral exploitation
Domestic waste:
o Domestic waste is complicated, it includes domestic
wastewater, leftovers, kitchen waste, plastic bags, waste
paper…
Soil contaminated alum
o Soil contains many toxic substances for plants such as Al, Fe,
CH4, H2S... The soil is very acidic

(Profile information of acid sulfate soil in Tan Hoa commune,

Tan Thanh district, Long An province)
Salty soil
o Saline soils are soils that contain dissolved salts at a higher
concentration than normal, which adversely affect crops.
o Saline soils contain a lot of dissolved salts (1 - 1.5% or
more). Common dissolved salts in the soil are NaCl,
Na2SO4, CaCl2, CaSO4, MgCl2, NaHCO3 ...

o The main reason is due to seawater intrusion, seawater

flowing along the river, underground water into the
inland.
 Methods to reclaim saline soils in
Vietnam
 farming methods
Conduct freshwater into the field, plow, harrow to
dissolve the salts, soak the field, then drain the water
into canals, ditches, or rivers.

When we lead the water layer 30cm in high through

the soil, about 80% of the salts contained in the
upper 30cm of the soil will be removed. (source:
IASVN)
 Biological measures
Selection and breeding of salt-tolerant plants and
planted are appropriate for each soil improvement
phase
Sugar cane salt tolerance, rice seeds: OM6976  (3-
4‰), OM2517, OM5629, (4-6‰)  OM6162 (3-4‰)

(Source: Mekong Delta Rice Institute)

 rotation method

Reduce the rice area 2-3 crops/year to grow rice with

1 crop rotation with aquaculture during salinity

Applying the rice-shrimp rotation model is a special

farming system that has brought high efficiency and
stable income for farmers.
 Chemical measures

In saline soils, there are Na+ ions. It is usually in the

form of soluble salts such as NaCl, NaHCO3,
Na2SO4 ... This ion will cause harmful effects on
physics, chemistry, and biology.

Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate Na+ ions in the

soil and replace it with Ca2+ ions.

People often use calcium-containing lime or calcium-

containing phosphorus to improve saline soils.
 Conclusion
 Soil is an extremely important part of the ecosystem. Soil is
considered a "buffer system", balancing all living things on it
including humans, plants, organisms, and microorganisms. For
agriculture, the soil is an invaluable and irreplaceable resource.
Therefore, we must use land resources appropriately and
improve soil scientifically
THANK YOU SO
MUCH