Chemometric Studies of Water-quality Parametrs

Among different factors poor quality of tube well water is the major contributing factor towards the low yield of crops in India, as it is not fit for irrigation in most of the areas. This study was carried out to provide guidelines to farmers and researchers for better crop production by adopting water management practices. During October, 2010 a total of 315 water samples were collected in collaboration with Agriculture Extension Department from tube wells in tehsil Jalandhar, analyzed and categorized according to the suitability criteria of water quality evaluation. Out of 315 water samples 96(30%) water samples were fit, 25(8%) were marginally fit and 194(62%) were found unfit for irrigation purposes. Out of 194 unfit water samples, 146 unfit water samples (75%) had electrical conductivity higher than permissible limit (i.e. >1250 µS cm-1), 23 samples (12%) were found with high SAR (i.e. >10 (m mol L-1)0.5), and 25 samples (13%) had high RSC (i.e. >2.5 me L-1). Further, the analytical data indicated that most of the unfit water samples 146(75%) are unfit due to higher EC followed by EC+RSC 25(13%) and EC+SAR 23(12%). Almost all the area has highly saline water, which is affecting yield of various crops & soil health. Provision of necessary technical assistance to farming communities should be available to guide them at what depth they should extract fresh water instead of saline water. In severally affected areas bio-saline agriculture should be promoted to mitigate ill-effects of salinity hazardous. Cropping pattern should be fairly modified to produce those crops in sensitive areas which are water and salinity resistant.