The salinization and sodication of the soil in the Songnen Plain is very serious. The major salts are NaHCO3 and NaCO3, and the ESP is 48.3% (Wang et al., 2004; Li et al., 2006).
The structure of this soil is very poor, and the permeability is very low: hydraulic conductivity at saturation is only 0.02–0.22 mm d−1, which is in the low water permeability range (Chi and Wang, 2010).