Evaluating the necessity of autumn irrigation on salinized soil by considering changes in soil physicochemical properties

Dear Editor,Soil salinization is one of the main forms of global soil degradation,which seriously threatens food security production (Liu et al.,2022).Proper irrigation is the main management measure to control soil salinization (Aragüés et al.,2015;Machado and Serralheiro,2017).For example,in Hetao Irrigation District in Inner Mongolia of northwestern China,the effects of irrigation,seasonal freezing-thawing,and evaporation have led to serious soil salinization problems.Since the 1980s,autumn irrigation (AI) has typically been implemented widely in Hetao Irrigation District before soil freezing (Li et al.,2010;Lu et al.,2019),to leach the salts accumulated on the surface and maintain sufficient soil moisture to create a suitable environment for the next spring sowing.