ABSTRACT
All soils contain some amount of soluble salts. Many of these salts act as a source of essential nutrients for the healthy growth of plants. Thus, soil that contains excess salts so as to impair its productivity is called salt-affected soil. Salts not only decrease the agricultural production of most crops, but also, as a result of their effect on soil physicochemical properties, adversely affect the associated ecological balance of the area. Salt-affected soils are found under varied conditions of soil, climate, and physiography and are important constraints in agricultural production in many countries and in every continent. In the North African region, Margat stated that salt accumulation is the main cause of low agricultural production in Morocco. Soil salinisation may originate from a variety of frequently interrelated sources. Although the salts occurring in the ocean arise mainly from the weathering processes of the earth crust, the ocean now functions as an important "source term" for redistribution of salts.
