Yield responses to lime of wheat and barley on acid soils in north-eastern Victoria

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 209 ◽  
Author(s):  
DR Coventry ◽  
BR Walker ◽  
GR Morrison ◽  
MT Hyland ◽  
JC Avery ◽  
...  

Liming experiments were conducted at 13 sites (soil pH range 4.99-6.27, 0-10 cm depth) in the dryland cropping region of north-eastern Victoria with wheat grown at all sites and barley at 3 sites. Lime increased wheat yields at 9 of the 13 sites with the acid sensitive cultivar Oxley, but the yield increase was not correlated (r2=0.07) with exchangeable Al. Exchangeable A1 was closely related to pH (in 0.01 mmol/L CaCl2). The acid-tolerant wheat cultivars (Matong and Millewa) out-yielded Oxley at a soil pH (CaCl2) of 4.7 and the acid-tolerant cultivars were less responsive to liming. The barley responded to the lime treatment at each of the 3 sites. The use of acid tolerant crop species is recommended on these soils, but an improvement in the predictability of a lime response is required before liming is widely recommended.

1977 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. PENNEY ◽  
M. NYBORG ◽  
P. B. HOYT ◽  
W. A. RICE ◽  
B. SIEMENS ◽  
...  

The amount of cultivated acid soil in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia was estimated from pH values of farm samples analyzed by the Alberta Soil Testing Laboratory, and the effect of soil acidity on crops was assessed from field experiments on 28 typical acid soils. The field experiments consisted of two cultivars of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and one cultivar each of rapeseed (Brassica campestris L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown with and without lime for 2 yr. There are about 30,000 ha of soils with a pH of 5.0 or less where soil acidity seriously restricts yields of all four crop species. There are approximately 300,000 ha with a soil pH of 5.1–5.5 where liming will on the average increase yields of alfalfa by 100%, yields of barley by 10–15%, and yields of rapeseed and red clover by 5–10%. There are a further 1,600,000 ha where soil pH ranges from 5.6 to 6.0 and liming will increase yields of alfalfa by approximately 50% and yields of barley, rapeseed and red clover by at least 4–5%.


1977 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. WEBBER ◽  
DIANE CORNEAU ◽  
P. B. HOYT ◽  
M. NYBORG

Several laboratory methods for estimating lime requirements of acid soils were compared using 24 soils from Alberta and northeastern British Columbia and 15 from elsewhere in Canada. The Peech, Schofield, Woodruff and SMP (Shoemaker et al. 1971) buffer methods were equally well correlated with lime requirements for raising soil pH to 5.5 or 6, which in turn were highly correlated with the amounts of soluble and exchangeable Al and organic matter in the soils. The SMP buffer method is recommended for use as the diagnostic index of lime requirement to achieve pH 5.5 or 6 because of its speed and simplicity. A refinement is suggested for Alberta and northeastern B.C. soils on the basis that lime need not be added to achieve pH 5.5 but should be added to reduce Al below the toxic level for sensitive crops. The lime requirements to reduce Al in those soils were highly correlated with the amounts of 0.02 M CaCl2-soluble Al they contained and it is recommended that the 0.02 M CaCl2-soluble AI be used as the diagnostic index of lime requirement. Lime requirements related to SMP (pH) and 0.02 M CaCl2-soluble Al are presented.


1969 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
George Samuels

The pH values of the soils of Puerto Rico were determined with the following results: 1. About 80 percent of the soils were acid (below pH 7) and 50 percent were below pH 6, which was acid enough to require liming. 2. Most of the soils planted to bananas were pH 6 and above. 3. The pH range for brushland was wide, extending from acid to alkaline. 4. Eighty percent of the soils of the coconut plantations were above pH 6. 5. Coffee soils, in general, were acid, with 63 percent below pH 6, of which 49 percent were in the range pH 5.0 to 5.9 and 13 percent in the very acid range of pH 4.0 to 4.9. 6. The pH of soils planted to corn varied widely. 7. The small cotton acreage had a pH range of 5.0 to 5.9. 8. The soils planted to grapefruit had 57 percent of their acreage at pH 4.0 to 4.9 and 29 percent in the range pH 5.0 to 5.9. 9. The natural pastures had 75 percent of their soil at pH below 6, whereas improved and rotational pastures had only 39 percent below pH 6. 10. Pineapples were planted in acid soils, 75 percent of which were below pH 6. 11. The majority, 68 percent, of the plantains were grown in acid soils below pH 6. 12. Root-crop soils had a systematic distribution throughout the range of pH from below 4 to above 8. 13. Most soils used for soilage (cut grass) had a pH above 6. 14. Eighty-one percent of the sugarcane acreage was found to be in the range of pH 5 to 8. About 36 percent of the cane acreage was below pH 5.5 and in need of liming. 15. Tobacco was grown primarily on acid soils, with 61 percent of its acreage on those below pH 6. 16. No vegetables were found in soils with a pH below 5, and 50 percent were planted in soils with a pH above 6. 17. The pH range for woodland soil was distributed rather evenly from a pH 5 to 7.9. 18. The average pH and range of pH of the soils of Puerto Rico are presented, by soil series, and several examples are given of the relationship between soil pH and soil series.


Soil Research ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 739 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Islam ◽  
R. E. White ◽  
D. Chen

A short-term nitrification assay (SNA) was used to measure the activity of soil nitrifiers and their response to pH change in acid pasture soils (pH 4.8–5.3 in water) at the sites of Maindample and Ruffy in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. Changes in soil pH associated with lime applications in the field resulted in a change in the optimum pH (pHopt) of the nitrifying organisms in the range 4.93–6.94. Nitrification in these soils was predominantly autotrophic, and rates increased from 0.18 to 0.93 μg NO3–-N/g.h with increasing pH. The strong positive correlation between field soil pH and the respective pHopt values suggested that the indigenous nitrifier population had adapted to the change in soil pH. SNA measurements within 6 months of lime application to Maindample soil showed that the soil nitrifying organisms had rapidly adapted to the pH change. However, the residual effect of lime on nitrifier activity was long-lasting (up to 8 years) and may involve more than a simple effect on soil pH. Repeat application of lime further enhanced nitrification activity on an already elevated activity, but only if sufficient time was allowed (>3 years) after the earlier application. Phosphate applications to these soils did not affect the general pH response in nitrifier activity. Both soils had considerable capacity for nitrification, even at pHs much lower than the commonly accepted range for autotrophic nitrifiers.


2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vele P Ila'ava ◽  
Pax Blamey ◽  
Colin J Asher

There were strong relationships between exchangeable aluminium (Al) and relative top yield, and between soil pH and relative top yield in the Garret and Bisinella soils. Sweet potato plants produced maximum top yields at soil exchangeable Al <3.0 cmol ((+)/kg, with a 10% yield reduction coinciding with a value of approximately 5.0 cmol (+)/kg. The value was lower for the Bisinella soil than the Garret soil. In the case of pH, maximum yield in both soils was evident at a soil pH of 5.0 with 90% of maximum yield being achieved at about pH 4.7. These results suggest that soil pH would be a good index for Al toxicity. The close relationships between sweet potato growth and both exchangeable Al and soil pH need to be explored further to determine whether it will hold across a wide range of acid soil groups.


1967 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. B. MacLeod ◽  
L. P. Jackson

The concentration of water-soluble and exchangeable aluminum was determined in the 0–15-, 15–23-, 23–30- and 30–45-cm depths of a Podzol limed to provide surface soil pH values ranging from 4.5 to 7.2. Both soluble and exchangeable Al decreased with increasing soil pH. Soluble Al ranged from 5.7 ppm at pH 4.4 with high fertilization to 0.3 ppm at pH 6.5 with similar fertilization. Increasing the rate of fertilization at pH 4.5 raised the soluble Al from 2.6 to 5.7 ppm. Fertilization still doubled the soluble Al in soil at pH 5.1 but had little effect as the pH was raised further to 5.8 and 6.5. Soluble Al in the subsoil samples was less than in surface soil samples at the same pH, while with exchangeable Al, the concentration was greater in the subsoil than in the surface soil samples.There was not a direct relationship between pH and soluble Al, although the highest soluble Al concentrations occurred at lowest soil pH levels. Analyses of 30 representative samples of surface soil taken from farmers' fields showed that the soluble Al concentration at pH 4.0 ranged from 3.5 to 4.8 ppm, while at a pH of 5.0 it ranged from 0.2 to 2.8 ppm. The concentrations of soluble Al in many of these soils exceeded the levels previously shown by nutrient solution experiments to severely restrict growth of legumes and some varieties of barley.


1970 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 427 ◽  
Author(s):  
AD Robson ◽  
JF Loneragan

On a moderately acid soil (pH 4.6 in 115 suspension of soil in 0.01M calcium chloride), nodulation of Medicago truncatula cv. Cyprus responded markedly to increasing applications of calcium carbonate, which increased soil pH. Since the effect of increasing soil pH on the percentage nodulation could be replaced to a large extent by increasing the inoculation level, it appeared that nodulation was restricted by the inability of Rhizobium meliloti to survive or multiply in the acid soil. The growth of R, meliloti appeared more sensitive to soil acidity than growth of the host plant of annual Medicago species. It is suggested that more acid-tolerant strains of R. meliloti would permit annual Medicago species to be grown successfully on moderately acid soils, thus extending the range of soils suitable for the growth of these species.


Soil Research ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
ICR Holford

In a glasshouse experiment on 15 acid soils from north-eastern New South Wales, lime was applied in factorial combination with phosphate to determine their effects and interactions on the yield and phosphorus uptake of white clover. Phosphate caused significant yield responses on all but one soil. The higher rate of lime increased the uptake of soil phosphate, but decreased the apparent uptake of fertilizer phosphate from most soils. These effects were generally consistent with lime-induced increases in phosphate concentration in the soil solution, exchangeable phosphate and buffer capacity. The effects of lime on yields and phosphorus uptake by clover on the 14 phosphate-deficient soils suggest that responses to lime will depend on whether the soils are high in manganese or toxic in aluminium. Where clover contained > 110 ppm manganese, lime increased yields only in the absence of applied phosphate (negative interactions). Where clover contained toxic levels of aluminium, lime increased yields only in the presence of phosphate (positive interaction). In the former soils, lime increased the levels of exchangeable phosphate, phosphate concentration in solution, and uptake of soil phosphate, but generally depressed the uptake of fertilizer phosphate. In the aluminium toxic soil, lime greatly decreased the levels of exchangeable phosphate and buffer capacity, and increased the uptake of fertilizer phosphate but not of soil phosphate.


1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
AM Ridley ◽  
KR Helyar ◽  
WJ Slattery

Eleven paired soil samples to 60 cm depth were collected from grazing properties in north-eastern Victoria. Soils were naturally acid and most were red or yellow podsolics. At each site unfertilised soils (unimproved) and soils which had received regular superphosphate applications (improved) were sampled from either side of a fenceline. The percentage of organic carbon was higher on improved sites but pH was usually lower. Using pH and pH buffering capacity data, the rate of soil acidification under improved pasture, relative to unimproved pasture, was estimated. The improved pastures, on average, required 39 kg CaCO3ka.year to balance the net acid accumulated. The estimated rates of acidification are much lower than those reported previously for similar environments and soil types in New South Wales. There was a relationship between initial profile pH and net acid addition, lower measured net acid addition being associated with low initial soil pH. This paper demonstrates the need for both standardisation of soil pH buffer capacity measurements, and more direct assessment of the role of soil mineral dissolution processes in buffering the pH of strongly acid soils. Until such data exists it will be very difficult to provide convincing information to primary producers regarding the long term alkali input requirements needed for sustainable farming systems.


1977 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bolton

SummaryIn two long-term liming experiments on a sandy-clay loam at Rothamsted and a loamy sand at Woburn the responses of potatoes in 1974 and oats in 1975 to cumulative dressings of superphosphate and potassium chloride applied since 1962 and magnesium sulphate applied in 1974 were measured at four pH levels within the range pH 4–pH 7.Yields of both crops were similar over the whole pH range when standard rates of NPKMg fertilizers were given. Without added P and Mg, yields of potatoes were much smaller on the more acid soils, but without K, yields were larger. A similar pattern of yield responses to P and Mg fertilizers occurred with oats but there were no differences between the small responses to K additions over the whole pH range.Analyses of potato leaves sampled at the 10% flowering stage showed differences related to the yield effects for K and Mg but not for P. Yield responses were associated with concentrations less than 4% K and 0·18% Mg in the dry matter of topmost fully mature leaves.The differences in yield response caused by liming were not associated with differences in ‘available’ nutrients in the soils (determined using standard methods).


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