scholarly journals Electrical Conductivity, pH, Organic Matter and Texture of Selected Soils Around the Qatar University Campus

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-409
Author(s):  
Shanon Iffat Alam ◽  
Hadeel Hammoda ◽  
Faiza Khan ◽  
Reem Al Enazi ◽  
Ipek Goktepe

Assessment of soil quality by soil analysis is a valuable tool for a farm as it determines the inputs required for efficient and economical production. A proper soil test helps ensure the application of sufficient fertilizers to meet the requirements of the crop while taking advantage of the nutrients and conditions already present in the soil. Though soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter and texture are important features that determine the fertility of the soil, quantitative information on these properties are limited. The objective of the present study was to assess the pH, EC, organic matters and texture of four selected locations around the Qatar University campus including Biology Field (BF), Science Garden (SG), Greenhouse Inside (GHI) and Greenhouse Outside (GHO). We observed significant differences in the pH, EC and organic matter contents among the four locations. The highest pH was observed in SG and lowest in GHI whereas highest EC was observed in GHI and lowest in BF. Highest organic matter was found in GHI and lowest in BF. The soil texture of the BF and SG was sandy clay while that of GHI and GHO was loamy sand. Considering all four parameters analyzed in the present study, the GHI soil was found more suitable for plant growth. Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.7(3): 403-409,  December 2020

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-12
Author(s):  
Tahsina Sharmin Hoque ◽  
Shafia Afrin ◽  
Israt Jahan ◽  
Md. Joinul Abedin Mian ◽  
Mohammad Anwar Hossain

Soil depth can significantly influence the availability of nutrients in soil. An experiment was conducted with seven soil samples from seven land use types to observe the effect of soil depth on soil properties under various land use systems. Soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter, available phosphorus (P), available sulphur (S) and different forms of potassium (K) such as water soluble, exchangeable and non-exchangeable were determined from the soil samples collected from four soil depths (viz. 0-10, 10-20, 20-30 and 30-40 cm). Soil pH varied from 6.30-7.39 irrespective of depths and land uses and it increased with increasing soil depth. Electrical conductivity of the soils ranged from 42-310 µS cm-1 and organic matter status of most of the soils was very low to medium in level. Both EC and organic matter content decreased with the increase of soil depth. Available P concentration showed no specific changing trend with soil depth whereas available S concentration under different land use systems decreased with increasing soil depth. The concentrations of water soluble, exchangeable and non-exchangeable K in soils varied from 12.30-39.60, 20.90-53.16 and 163.30-684.30 mg kg-1, respectively and showed no specific changing pattern with soil depth. Water soluble K content was higher in rice growing fertilizer and manure-treated soil but higher exchangeable and non-exchangeable K contents were observed in banana growing soil. In rice growing soils, nutrient concentration is mostly higher in nitrogen (N), P and K + farm yard manure (FYM) - treated plots compared to rice growing control plots.


1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 352-352
Author(s):  
Stanley R. Swier

Abstract The trial was conducted 10 May on a golf course rough, Amherst, NH. Plots were 10 X 10 ft, replicated 4 times, in a RCB design. Merit WP was applied in 4 gal water/1000 ft2 with a watering, can. Merit G granules were applied with a homemade salt shaker. Treatments were irrigated with 0.5 inch water after application. Plots were rated 30 Sep by counting the number of live grubs per 1 ft2. Conditions at the time of treatment were: air temperature 70°F; wind, 3 MPH; sky, clear; soil temperature, 1 inch, 60°F; thatch depth, 0.5 inch soil pH, 5.4; slope 0%; soil texture, silt loam, 47% sand, 50% silt, 3% clay; soil organic matter, 6.9%; soil moisture, 21.8%.


1997 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 353-353
Author(s):  
Stanley R. Swier ◽  
Alan Rollins ◽  
Bryan Carney

Abstract Two trials were conducted at Amherst Country Club, Amherst, NH. In the first trial treatments were applied on 6 Sep to a bentgrass nursery and rated 13 Sep. In the second, treatments were applied 12 Sep and rate 19 Sep. The treatments were applied in an RCB design, 4 replicates per treatment, with 1 -ft buffers between plots. All treatments were applied with a 2-wheel bicycle-type CO2 boom sprayer, using four 8004 nozzles with 50-mesh screens. The volume of water and insecticide mix per plot was 2 gal/1000ft2 delivered at 40 psi. BCW larvae were predominantly 3rd-4th instar in the 1st trial and 1 st-2nd instar in the 2nd trial. Weather conditions were as follows: on 6 Sep, air temp, 81°F; sky, clear; wind, calm. Soil conditions were as follows: surface temp, 83°F; temp at 1-inch depth, 74°F; soil pH, 5.7; dry matter, 80%; moisture, 20%; organic matter, 4%; soil texture, loam; sand, 60%; silt, 20%; clay, 20%. On 12 Sep, air temp was 74°F; soil temp at surface was 71°F; at 1-inch depth, 69°F. The trials were rated for live larvae by soaking each plot with Joy dish soap and water to force larvae to the surface.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
Mohammad Kamrul Hasan ◽  
Md Bayeazid Mamun

The study was conducted in Dukhula sadar and Gasabari forest range under Madhupur Sal Forest of Bangladesh to determine the soil nutrient composition and isolation of fungi with varying stands. Three stands viz. pure sal, plantation and mixed were considered as treatment of the study. A quadrate sample plot of 10×10 m2 size was measured to collect soil samples for both chemical analysis and fungi isolation. Soil pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter content, total N, available P, exchangeable K, available S, fungal abundance and colony character (cm) were determined to achieve the objective of the study. The results revealed that soil pH and electrical conductivity were highest (6.61 and 21.10?S/cm) in mixed stand and lowest (6.38 and 10.75?S/cm) in pure stand. Organic matter content and total N were highest (2.24 and 0.145%) in plantation stand and lowest (1.65 and 0.112%) in mixed and pure stand, respectively. Available P, exchangeable K and available S were highest (3.65, 98.66 and 17.53ppm) in pure stand and lowest (1.97, 79.49 and 10.25ppm) in plantation stand. In addition, four fungal genera Sclerotium, Rhizoctonia, Pythium and Verticillium were identified in the study area soils. The highest fungal population (entire genus except Verticillium) (colony number/g soil) was found in mixed stand while it was found lowest in pure (Sclerotium ) and plantation stand (Rhizoctonia and Pythium ). There was no significant variation in colony diameter of the fungi among the treatments. Therefore, it can be concluded that better soil health was maintained in natural forest rather than plantation forest.Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.2(1): 17-25, April 2015


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Le Van Dang ◽  
Ngo Phuong Ngoc ◽  
Ngo Ngoc Hung

Fruit orchards in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) are severely degraded due to many factors, such as low organic matter content, soil acidification, and poor soil management. Organic manures are considered to be a soil conservation measure that decreases soil degradation and acidity. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of soil organic amendments on the improvement of soil fertility and pomelo productivity. Two soil amendments, namely, chicken manure (CM) and cow dung (CD), were investigated for a period of three years at three pomelo orchards. The soil quality was assessed in two depths (0–20 and 20–50 cm), including the soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (Ntot), available phosphorus (Pavail), soil organic matter (SOM), bulk density (BD), and exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, and K). The results indicated that CD and CM improved soil fertility in topsoil layer (0–20 cm) due to an increase in soil pH, SOM, exchangeable Ca, Ntot, and Pavail. In addition, soil BD significantly reduced after CD and CM were supplied in the three consecutive years of study. The soil quality properties that significantly affected pomelo yield were SOM, Ntot, Pavail, and soil BD. Thus, these soil qualities may be considered as key factors for determining and assessing soil quality in fruit orchards in the VMD. More studies on the influence of organic manures on nutrient uptake and pomelo fruit quality are warranted.


1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-327
Author(s):  
Stanley R. Swier ◽  
Alan Rollins

Abstract Three treatments were applied to third and fourth instar BCW larvae at Amherst Country Club. Plots were 7 X 7 ft, replicated 4 times, in a RCB design. Treatments were applied 7 Sep and rated 14 Sep (7 DAT). Treatments were applied with a CO2 boom sprayer, 8004 nozzles, at 40 PSI, in 2 gal water per 10002. Plots were rated using a soap flush and counting the number of emerging larvae. Conditions at the time of treatment were: air temperature, 84.3°F; wind, calm; sky, cloudy; soil temperature, 77.3°F; thatch depth, 0.25 inch; soil pH, 5.7; slope, 0%; soil texture, silt loam: sand 40%, silt 59%, clay 1%; soil organic matter, 3.7%; soil moisture, 22.6%; post treatment precipitation, 0.1 inch daily; mowing height, 0.187 inch.


2017 ◽  
Vol 155 (7) ◽  
pp. 1023-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. PADBHUSHAN ◽  
D. KUMAR

SUMMARYKnowledge of different fractions and availability of boron (B) is essential while studying the response of crops to B. Fractionation provides information about the chemistry of B and quantifies its bioavailability. Such information is potentially valuable for predicting bioavailability, B leaching, dynamics, transformation between chemical forms in soils and environmental impacts. Total B (T-B) is quantified into five fractions: readily soluble (Rs-B), specifically adsorbed (Spa-B), oxide bound (Ox-B), organically bound (Org-B) and residual B (Res-B). Of these, Rs-B is the fraction present in soil solution and adsorbed weakly by soil particles, and is most readily available for plant uptake. It accounts for 1–2% of T-B. The second most plant available form is Spa-B; it may be adsorbed onto clay surfaces or associated with organic matter (OM) in soil. The remaining fractions, Ox-B, Org-B and Res-B, are unavailable for plant uptake. The major portion (generally 87·4–99·7%) of T-B is composed of Res-B. Overall, the relative proportion of B in various fractions is in the order of Res B > Org-B > Spa-B > Rs-B > Ox-B. Several factors such as soil pH, soil OM, clay minerals, iron and aluminium oxides and calcium carbonate content may change the relative proportion of B in various fractions and the transformations among different soil B fractions. Some of the B fractions are correlated with others and exhibit responses in terms of plant growth. Non-specifically adsorbed (Nsa-B) and Spa-B are positively and significantly correlated to some sub-fractions of Ox-B, such as B occluded in manganese oxyhydroxides (Moh-B). The most readily available forms of B for plants are Nsa-B, Spa-B and Moh-B.


Author(s):  
Rahul Kamble

Forest is an important ecosystem service to human beings. In recent decades the forest is facing tremendous pressure from anthropogenic activities. One of the activities is the burning of forest floor for easy collection of non-timber forest produce. As a result of this number of incidences of forest fires has increased in the tribal-dominated area of the world. These forest fires have adverse impacts on soil properties which will ultimately in the long term have impacts on the forest ecosystem. Taking into consideration this fact this study was attempted to assess the impacts of controlled forest fires on the physicochemical properties of forest soil in the Gadchiroli forest circle of Central India. To assess the impacts six sampling sites from the forest where identified from the study area where no previous forest fire history was recorded in that season. Initial soil sampling before controlled forest fire was carried out in summer 2019 by quartering method in the topsoil layer (1-5 cm). A controlled forest fire was carried out in the same area. The soil was prepared for soil analysis and analysed by adopting standard methods for bulk density, water holding capacity, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, and organic matter. Results revealed that forest fires increase the bulk density of soil, at 50% (n = 3) sampling locations water holding capacity got reduced down; whereas, at other half increased in capacity was observed. In the case of soil pH 66% (n = 4) sample reported increased in soil pH and at other reduction in soil pH was recorded. Except at one sampling location electrical conductivity was reduced. A similar trend was also noticed for organic carbon and organic matter. Bulk density and water holding capacity will have long term impacts; whereas, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and organic matter will have short term impacts. Furthermore, in those sampling locations where forest fire does not occur in the last 2-3 years organic carbon and organic matter content of the soil is high. Thus, measures to be taken to reduce forest fires activities by incorporating an effective forest fire management system at a place by incorporating fire load management subsystem and fire suppression subsystem.  


2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edouard Lemire ◽  
Kate M Taillon ◽  
William H. Hendershot

Controlling soil pH is important to ensure good crop yield. This study was conducted to determine whether the accuracy of the existing Shoemaker-McLean-Pratt (SMP) pH-buffer method could be improved by using the pH-dependent cation exchange capacity curve (CECpd). Soil pH, SMP and CECpd measurements were performed on 18 acid surface horizon soil samples, with textures from sandy loam to clay loam. These soils were incubated with three levels of calcium carbonate for 12 wk, after which the soil pH and the effective cation exchange capacity (CECe) were measured. The correlation coefficient (R2) for the CECpd and CECe curves was 0.96. The main factor affecting the slope of the curves is the soil organic matter content. The increase of CECe in the soil was also found to be directly proportional to the amount of lime applied, regardless of the type of soil. By using the slope of the Qv versus pH curve for each soil and the relationship between CECe and lime application, we were able to determine the lime required to raise the soil pH in water to 6.5. As an alternative to the current practice of using the SMP buffer, we propose that it should be possible to estimate the pH-dependent CEC curve from measurable soil properties (e.g., organic matter) and to estimate the lime requirement as the difference in CECpd between the existing and desired pH values. Once the slope of the Qv/pH relationship has been determined or estimated for a soil, the only measurement necessary for calculating lime requirement in subsequent years would be the soil pH. The proposed method would provide lime requirement estimates while decreasing the annual cost of soil analysis. Key words: Lime requirement, cation exchange capacity, Non-Ideal Competitive Adsorption, soil properties, organic matter, Fe oxides


Author(s):  
Erwin Prastowo ◽  
John Bako Baon

Sulawesi exhibits unique land characteristics as a result of complex geological and geomorphological processes. The information related to what extent of theseprocesses affect regional soil characteristics is still limited. An investigation was performed on cocoa farms from three major cocoa producers, i.e. South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi. A research was done to point out the key variables contributing to cocoa soil characteristics. Soil survey was performed based on available local information to collect top soil composite samples, i.e. 0–30 cm depth, in the circle of cocoa stand within 50–75 cm radius. A routine soil analysis was done to evaluate soil texture, organic carbon (C), total nitrogen, K, Ca, Mg, soil pH (H2O), and some micronutrients, i.e. Fe, Cu, and Zn. To simplify the complexity, the multivariate data was submitted into principal component analysis (PCA). Additional mapping of soil variable gradient through inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation was included in the analysis to improve our interpretations. Data show that the variability for almost all investigated variables is high with coefficient of variation (CV) of up to about 118% for Fe. While low variability with CV about 10% was observed for soil pH (H2O). The PCA demonstrates that the first five principal components (PCs) account for 56.89% of variance in the original variables. Two factors to be considered to explain the variation in the PCs was soil texture and parent material. Further analyses exhibit an association of sand, silt, and clay fractions to Southeast, Central, and South Sulawesi. Mineral compositions, such as K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Zn, exhibit an important contribution to the parent material factor as they define the variability in the PCs. Additionally, the analysis of gradient maps may indicate the two physical environmental conditions, i.e. landform and geological setting, contribute to the specific characteristics of cocoa soil.


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