Gypsum and potassium application to acid soils for maize (Zea mays L.) production in La Frailesca, Chiapas, Mexico

Introduction. Maize (Zea mays L.) production in La Frailesca region, Mexico, is limited by sandy soils, low in potassium (K), and with acidic arable layers and subsoils. There is information on the management of lime but not on amendments that could be used for subsoil acidity — such as gypsum — nor on the interactions between amendments for soil acidity and K fertilization. Objective. To evaluate the effects of K and gypsum on maize and on previously limed soils. Materials and methods. The evaluations were conducted in farmers’ fields in La Frailesca region, Chiapas (Mexico) in 2016 and 2017. Four gypsum rates (0, 1.25, 2.5 and 5 t ha-1) and four K rates (0, 60, 90, and 120 kg ha-1 as K2O) were factorially combined in a randomized block design, with three replicates. In both years, before the beginning of the experiments, dolomitic lime was applied to the experimental area following standard practices. Responses of crop yield, soil exchangeable K, Ca, Mg, and Al, and soil pH were obtained. Results. Maize yields increased with gypsum (stabilizing at 1.25-3.0 t ha-1), and K (stabilizing at 70-120 kg ha-1 of K2O) applications. In soils, K application increased exchangeable K content, while gypsum increased exchangeable Ca content and pH, and decreased exchangeable Al content. Liming increased pHCa and exchangeable Ca and Mg contents, and lowered the exchangeable Al content in the top 7.5 cm of soil. Conclusion. Soils with exchangeable K (≤0.3 cmolc kg-1) were responsive to K fertilization. The positive effects on yields from gypsum were probably linked to a greater Ca supply in the top 7.5 cm. These results are encouraging about the benefits of the combined application of dolomitic lime, gypsum, and K, but longer evaluations are needed to properly determine the effects of gypsum on subsoil acidity.

Response of soybean (Glycine max L.) that was applied by various liquid organic fertilizer in climate change at acid soil

Acidic soils are formed from rapid climate change. Acid soils have problems in it, among others; high levels of Al, Fe, and Mn and the unavailability of elements P and N for staple crops. Indonesia imports almost 70% of its domestic requirement. The purpose of this study was to determine the response of soybean plants that were given various types of liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) to climate change in acid soils. Experiments have been carried out in acid soil in the Kuranji area of Padang City. Materials needed include; Mutiara-1 seed. The lime and LOF trials were arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD), with 9 treatments namely; without calcification and without LOF (A); give lime equivalent to 1 x Exchangeable Al and without LOF (Control) (B); Crocober (C); Crocoberma (D); Crocoberderma (E); Titocroco (F); Titocrocoma (G); (H); Trichoderma harzianum (I). The observational data were analyzed statistically by using an F level of 5% significance level if the treatment had a significant effect, it was followed by a LSD test of 5% significance level. Observation parameters include; agronomic, pH soil. Experimental results established that given of dolomite lime can increase soil pH, Titocrocoma LOF accompanied by liming gives the best effect on soybean varieties Mutiara-1 at vegetative stadium, produces 3.45 Mg ha−1 forage dry weight equivalent to107,64 kg N ha−1 or 618,93 kg ha−1 crude protein.

Comparison of the Structure and Diversity of Root-Associated and Soil Microbial Communities Between Acacia Plantations and Native Tropical Mountain Forests

Deforestation of native tropical forests has occurred extensively over several decades. The plantation of fast-growing trees, such as Acacia spp., is expanding rapidly in tropical regions, which can contribute to conserve the remaining native tropical forests. To better understand belowground biogeochemical cycles and the sustainable productivity of acacia plantations, we assessed the effects of vegetation (acacia plantations vs. native forests) and soil types (Oxisols vs. Ultisols) on soil properties, including the diversity and community structures of bacteria- and fungi-colonizing surface and subsurface roots and soil in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The results in surface soil showed that pH was significantly higher in acacia than in native for Oxisols but not for Ultisols, while exchangeable Al was significantly lower in acacia than in native for Ultisols but not for Oxisols. Bacterial alpha diversity (especially within phylum Chloroflexi) was higher in acacia than in native only for Oxisols but not for Ultisols, which was the same statistical result as soil pH but not exchangeable Al. These results suggest that soil pH, but not exchangeable Al, can be the critical factor to determine bacterial diversity. Acacia tree roots supported greater proportions of copiotrophic bacteria, which may support lower contents of soil inorganic N, compared with native tree roots for both Oxisols and Ultisols. Acacia tree roots also supported greater proportions of plant pathogenic Mycoleptodiscus sp. but appeared to reduce the abundances and diversity of beneficial ECM fungi compared with native tree roots regardless of soil types. Such changes in fungal community structures may threaten the sustainable productivity of acacia plantations in the future.

Extent, Distribution, and Causes of Soil Acidity under Subsistence Farming System and Lime Recommendation: The Case in Wolaita, Southern Ethiopia

Soil acidity is one of the most important environmental threats to the Ethiopian highlands where the livelihood of the majority of people is reliant on agriculture. Yet, information regarding its extent, distribution, causes, and lime requirement at a scale relevant to subsistence farming systems is still lacking. This study (1) investigates the extent and spatial distribution of soil acidity, (2) identifies factors attributing to soil acidification, and (3) predicts the lime requirement for major crops. A total of 789 soil samples were collected from arable lands in the Wolaita area which is mainly characterized by poor soil fertility and soil degradation in southern Ethiopia. Results revealed that the landscape is characterized by a gentle slope followed by strongly sloppy > flat > hilly topographies. Clay is the dominant soil textural class. A soil pH map, which is generated using geospatial analysis, demonstrates that 3.3, 78.0, and 18.7% of the total area were under strongly acidic, moderately acidic, and neutral soil reactions, respectively. The exchangeable acidity (Cmol(+)/kg) varied from nil to 5.1, whereas exchangeable Al ranged from 1.4 to 19.9 Cmol(+)/kg. The soil pH has shown a significantly ( p < 0.001) negative association with clay content (r = −0.33), exchangeable Al (r = −61), exchangeable acidity (r = −0.58), and inorganic fertilizer application (r = −0.33). Increased rates of diammonium phosphate (DAP) (r2 = 0.91) and urea (r2 = 0.88) markedly elevated soil acidity. Conversely, manuring showed a significant ( p < 0.001) and positive relationship with pH (r = 0.37) in which the increasing rate of manure significantly reduced acidification (r2 = 0.98). DAP and urea applications above 75 kg/ha lowered soil pH units by 0.56 and 0.48, respectively, <25 kg/ha while at the same time farmyard manure (FYM) at 4 t/ha raised pH by 0.75 units over the unfertilized field. Residue management significantly ( p < 0.001) influenced soil pH wherein it ranged from 6.09 (complete residue removal) to 6.61 (residue incorporation). Changes in land use, cropping intensity, and socioeconomic status were also significantly attributed to soil acidification. To curb the effects of soil acidity, the lime requirement for common bean growing fields varied from zero to 6.6 t/ha, while for maize it was between zero and 4.3 t/ha. It is concluded that soil management interventions such as maintaining and incorporating crop residues, integrated use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, liming, and enhancing farmers’ awareness should be advocated to overcome soil acidification and improve soil fertility. In addition, introducing crops with traits that tolerate acidity and Al toxicity is also suggested.

Rising levels of soil acidity in Meghalaya: Evidences and Imperatives

In order to examine the current status of soil acidity in Meghalaya, representative soil samples (n= 497) were collected (during 2015-2016) from across the state and analyzed for soil acidity and associated parameters. Averaged across the samples, pH of the soils was found to be very strongly acidic (4.94). Nearly 20 % of the soils had pH below 4.50, 59% below pH 5.0 and 80% below pH 5.50. Only 3.4% of the samples recorded pH more than 6.0. East Khasi Hills District had the maximum percentage (95.1%) of strongly acidic soils (pH ≤ 5.50) while Garo Hills had the least (50.2%). All other districts recorded more than 85% of the strongly acidic soils. Average exchangeable acidity, exchangeable Al and effective CEC were found to be 1.60, 1.27 and 3.86 meq/100g soil, respectively. Mean base saturation was recorded below 60%. Aluminium saturation (percentage of effective CEC being occupied by exch. Al) ranged from 1.5 to 79.7% with its mean value being as high as 33%. Principal component analysis provided three PCs with Eigen values >1 and together they explained 83.2 % of the variance in total dataset. The soil acidity in Meghalaya is on rise, with 80.2% of its soils being strongly acidic (pH ≤ 5.50) in contrast to the previous reports of 53% soils being strongly acidic. This calls for widespread adoption of soil acidity ameliorative measures in agriculture of Meghalaya, Northeast India.

Effect of Calcium Cyanamide on Soil Fungal Community in Successive Tea-Cuttings Nursery

The effects of calcium cyanamide on the soil fungal communities in successive tea-cuttings nursery soils were investigated based on Illumina high-throughput sequencing. The field experiment was carried out with three treatments, including control (CK), flooding (F) and calcium cyanamide (CC). The treatment with calcium cyanamide increased pH (~1 unit) and reduced the accumulation of phenols (~50%), available phosphorus (~28%) and exchangeable Al (~90%) significantly, and improved soil quality. The predominant phylum in all treatments was Ascomycota. FUNGuild revealed that the dominant trophic mode was saprotrophy in tea-cuttings nursery soil. Plant pathogens had a low abundance in the calcium cyanamide treatment. Alpha diversity analysis showed lower richness in the calcium cyanamide than the other treatments. Network analysis showed a poorly connected but highly modularized network in the calcium cyanamide treatment, with the crucial OTUs functions related to anti-pathogenicity. The results showed that calcium cyanamide should be recommended for improving long-term tea nurseries by increasing the survival rate of tea seedlings due to increasing soil pH value, reducing aluminum toxicity, decreasing the accumulation of polyphenols, diminishing pathogenic fungi and making the taxa related to anti-pathogenicity occupy a more important niche.

Consecutive soybean (Glycine max) planting and covering improve acidified tea garden soil

Planting soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in tea gardens decreased soil pH in theory but increased it in practice. This controversy was addressed in this study by treating the tea garden soil consecutively with different parts of a soybean cover crop: aboveground soybean (ASB) parts, underground soybean (USB) root residues, and the whole soybean (WSB) plants. In comparison with the control, the soil pH increased significantly after the third ASB and WSB treatments, but there was no significant change in the soil pH in the USB treatment. Concordantly, the soil exchangeable acidity decreased significantly and the soil exchangeable bases increased significantly in the ASB and WSB treatments. The exchangeable acidity increased in the USB treatment, but the amount of the increased acidity was less than that of the increased bases in the ASB treatment, resulting in a net increase in the exchangeable bases in the WSB treatment. Soybean planting and covering also increased the microbial richness and abundance significantly, which led to significantly more soil organic matters. Exchangeable K+ and Mg2+, and soil organic matters played significantly positive roles and exchangeable Al3+ played negative roles in improving soil pH. Our data suggest that consecutive plantings of soybean cover crop increase the pH of the acidified tea garden soil.

Aluminum Toxicity in Sweet Cherry Trees Grown in an Acidic Volcanic Soil

Chile is the world’s largest exporter of sweet cherries. New plantings have been shifted to southern regions, where aluminum (Al) phytotoxicity could be a serious constraint on establishing orchards in acidic volcanic soils. This study investigated the effects of soil Al on growth and macronutrient uptake in non-bearing ‘Bing’ on Gisela®6 trees grown in 120 L pots containing volcanic soil with four concentrations of exchangeable Al (0.12, 0.40, 0.60, and 1.24 cmol kg−1). At the end of the first and second seasons after planting, the trees were destructively harvested, and individual organs were analyzed for dry weight, Al concentration, and macronutrient concentration. Increasing soil Al concentrations had a detrimental effect on nutrient uptake and growth, particularly in the second season. However, fine-root growth was significantly reduced from the first season and from low soil Al concentrations. In sweet cherry trees, Al was preferentially accumulated in root tissues and its translocation to aerial organs was restricted. In addition, Al accumulation in fine roots, in conjunction with a reduction in root growth, severely restricted the uptake of N, P, K, Mg, and, particularly, Ca. Therefore, soil acidity must be corrected to ensure the successful establishment of sweet cherry orchards in southern Chile.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPOST, HUMIC ACID AND PURE FULVATE ON IMPROVEMENT OF ULTISOL SOIL CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

The research aimed to determine the effectiveness of compost containing humic and fulvic acids, and pure humic and fulvic acids in increasing of Ultisol soil chemical properties. The research design used a randomized block design (RBD), consisting of 10 treatments, namely K0: 0 g polybag-1, KO1: 500 g polybag-1, KO2: 500 g polybag-1, KO3: 500 g polybag-1, KO4: 500 g polybag-1, KO5: 500 g polybag-1, KO6: 500 g polybag-1, KO7: 500 g of polybags-1, H: 50 g of polybag-1, A: 500 g polybag-1. Each treatment was repeated three times and obtained 30 treatment units. The results showed that pH H2O (K0: 4.49, KO1: 5.64, KO2: 5.47, KO3: 5.43, KO4: 5.51, KO5: 5.39, KO6: 5.48, KO7: 6.17, H: 5.06, F: 5.15), total-N (%) (K0: 0.13, KO1: 0.17, KO2: 0.18, KO3: 0.30, KO4: 0.25, KO5: 0.24, KO6: 0.29, KO7: 0.36, H: 0.16, F: 0.14), organic-C (%) (K0: 1.85, KO1; 2.30, KO2: 2.24, KO3: 2.33, KO4: 2.62, KO5: 2.25, KO6: 2.27, KO7: 2.95, H: 2.32, F: 2.26) , available-P (%) (K0: 2.75, KO1: 3.24, KO2: 3.16, KO3: 3.27, KO4: 3.57, KO5: 3.31, KO6: 3.37, KO7: 3.89, H: 3.10, F: 3.12), exchangeable-Al (me100g-1) (K0: 2.51, KO1: 2.11, KO2: 2.13, KO3: 2.15, KO4: 1.88, KO5: 2.14, KO6: 2.12, KO7: 1.75, H: 2.16, F: 2.17), base saturation (%) (K0: 30.91, KO1: 63.48, KO2: 52.63, KO3: 53.76, KO4: 56.13, KO5: 54.96, KO6: 56.71, KO7: 65.53, H: 39.11, F: 42.76), cation exchange capacity (me100g-1) (K0: 12.76, KO1: 15.64, KO2: 14.86, KO3: 14.35, KO4: 14.13, KO5: 15.01, KO6: 15.50, KO7: 17.94, H: 14.19, F: 13.73). The combined compost treatment of three types of organic matter (Imperata cylindrica + Rice straw + Glincidia sepium) is more effective in increasing the pH, H2O as 37.42%, total-N as 176.92%, Organic-C as 59.46%, available-P as 41.45%, base saturation as 65.53%, cation exchange capacity as 17.94% and exchangeable -Al, Alreduction as 30.28% of ultisol soil. KEY WORDS: compost, humic acid, fulvate, soil chemical, ultisol

Changes in Acidic Soil Chemical Properties and Carbon Dioxide Emission Due to Biochar and Lime Treatments

To mitigate global climate change and simultaneously increase soil productivity, the use of biochar in agriculture can be a modern agro-technology that can help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing soil carbon sequestration, and ultimately increasing crop yield. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of biochar and lime application on the chemical properties of acid soil and the emission of CO2. A 60-day incubation study was conducted with eleven treatments (T) in which two different biochar produced from rice husk (RHB) and oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFBB) at two rates (10 and 15 t ha−1) and on three rates of dolomitic limestone (100%, 75%, and 50%), recommended rate of NPK and a control (no amendment). The result showed that biochar and lime significantly increased soil pH, available P, and decreased exchangeable Al compared to the control. The pH increase was 44.02% compared to the control treatment on day 15, and the available P was found to be 22.44 mg kg−1 on day 30 from Treatment 7 (75% lime + 15 t ha−1 RHB). The cumulative CO2 emission from T7 was 207.40 μmol CO2 m−2 that decreased 139.41% compared to the control. Our findings conclude that RHB with 75% lime has more potential than EFBB to increase nutrient availability and reduce the emission of CO2 in acid soil.