NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SODIC SOILS - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Sodic soils cover over 28% of the total land area in Australia. It is clear from the papers delivered at the conference and workshop that so dic soils are beset with serious chemical, physical and nutritional pr oblems. This report summarises these problems based on the discussions during the workshop sessions together with issues raised during group discussion on: (a) distribution, classification and mapping, (b) phys ical processes, (c) chemical processes, (d) nutrient constraints, (e) biology and organic matter, (f) environmental consequences and (g) man agement strategies for economically sustainable crop production on sod ic soils. The most serious problems raised during the meeting concern inappropriate definition of sodic soils, soil water balance, nutrition al requirements on sodic soils, chemical and mineralogical bases of st ructural instability in relation to amelioration strategies, farming s ystems to improve organic matter and biological activity, and informat ion transfer. These issues are presented in detail.