Saline and alkaline soils occur in the drier parts of Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and Maharashtra covering about 68,000 sq. km of area.

These soils are characterised by saline and alkaline efflorescence’s consisting of salts of sodium, calcium and magnesium which appear on the surface as a layer of white salt through capillary action. Such soils have also been formed in areas of canal irrigation and high sub-soil water-table. These soils are known by various local names like reh, kallar, usar, rakar, thur, karl and chopan etc. In Uttar Pradesh about 1.25 million hectares and in Punjab about 1.21 million hectares of area is af­fected by such infertile usar soils.

Texturally, these soils are sandy to loamy sand. They are deficient in calcium and nitrogen and hence very low water bearing capacity. Saline soils generally contain free sodium and othersalts whereas alkali soils contain large quantities of sodium chlo­ride.

These soils can be reclaimed by providing good drainage, applying lime or gypsum and cultivating saltresistant crops (like be seem, rice and sugarcane). These soils are utilised in the cultivation of a wide variety of crops like rice, wheat, cotton, sugarcane and tobacco etc.