土壤的盐渍化发生范围很广,遍及世界各大洲的干旱和半干旱地区。有些国家,盐渍化面积很大,如苏联达七千五百万～一点五亿公顷(十一点二五亿亩～二十二点五亿亩),约占陆地总面积的百分之三点五～七;印度有六百零七百万公顷土地,由于土壤内积聚了大量可溶性盐及交换性钠盐不能生长作物而被废弃。土壤盐渍化多发生在干旱地区地势低洼、排水不良、地下水位高的地方;灌溉水含盐量高以及由于灌溉造成的次生盐渍化也是其中的主要原因。 Salinization of soils occurs over a wide range of arid and semi-arid regions of all continents. In some countries, the area of ​​salinization is very large. For example, the Soviet Union amounts to 75 million to 150 million hectares (1.222 billion mu to 2.25 billion mu), accounting for about 50% of the total land area 3.5 to 7 in India; 6.7 million hectares of land in India have been abandoned due to the accumulation of large quantities of soluble salts and exchangeable sodium salts in the soil that can not grow crops. Soil salinization occurs mostly in low-lying, poorly drained and high groundwater tables in arid regions. High salinity of irrigation water and secondary salinization due to irrigation are also the major causes.