TheintegratedeffectofirrigationandagriculturalpracticesonsoilsalinityintheJordanValley(JV),whereover60%ofJordan'sagriculturalproduceisgrown,wasinvestigatedinthisstudyduring2009-2010.Duetothedifferencesinagriculturaloperations,croppingpatterns,irrigationmanagement,andweatherconditions,206top-andsub-soilsamplesweretakenevery1to3kmfromrepresentativefarmsalonganorth-south(N-S)transectwith1to2kmlateralextents.Soilelectricalconductivityofsaturatedextract(EC_(se)),Ca,Mg,K,Na,Cl,andNaadsorptionratio(SAR)weredeterminedinsaturatedpasteextracts.Resultsindicatedthatabout63%ofsoilsintheJVareindeedsaline,outofwhichalmost46%aremoderatelytostronglysaline.AlongtheN-StransectoftheJV,EC_(se)increasedfrom4.5to14.1dSm~(-1)intop-soilsamples.Similarincreasewasobservedforthesub-soilsamples.Themajorchemicalcomponentsofsoilsalinity;i.e.,Ca,Mg,andCl,alsoshowedasimilarincreasealongtheN-Stransectofthevalley.Moreover,comparedtopreviousfieldsampling,resultsshowedthatchangesinsoilsalinityintheJVweredramatic.Inaddition,itwasfoundthatClimposedanexistingandpotentialthreattosensitivecropsin60%ofthesoilsintheJV,whereClconcentrationsweregreaterthan710mgL~(-1).UndertheprevalentaridMediterraneanconditions,improvingthemanagementofirrigationwater,crops,andnutrientinputsandincreasingwaterandfertilizeruseefficienciesshouldbeindispensabletoconserveandsustainthealreadyfragileagriculturalsoilsintheJV.
