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How did ancient Mesopotamian farmers respond to salt buildup in their fields?

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Map showing the Tigris and Euphrates river basin and its drainage network across Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, with color shading for elevation, major dams, canals, lakes, and boundaries with neighboring countries. The green areas indicate lower elevations along the river valleys, while higher elevations are shaded in brown and orange. A small locator map in the corner shows the basin's position within the Middle East. — Tigris-Euphrates river system The Tigris and Euphrates river basin and its drainage network.

Ancient Mesopotamian farmers recognized the long-term damage caused by over-irrigation and the resulting salinization of their fields. To manage this soil deterioration, they employed several strategies:

Alternate-year fallowing: This traditional method involved leaving fields unplanted every other year, which helped to halt or at least retard the accumulation of salt in the soil.1
Crop selection: Evidence from 3rd-millennium BCE Sumerian records suggests that farmers may have shifted their cultivation from wheat to barley, a crop that is more salt-resistant.1

Despite these efforts, the combination of intensive irrigation and poor drainage often led to a progressive loss of soil fertility. When these measures were insufficient to maintain productivity, the land would eventually become too salty to support crops, forcing farmers to abandon their fields.123