COMPARATIVE POTASSIUM LEVELS REMOVED FROM SOILS BY ELECTRO-ULTRAFILTRATION AND SOME CHEMICAL EXTRACTANTS
The objective of this study was to compare extractable potassium levels removed from soils by electro-ultrafiltration (EUF) and by conventional chemical soil tests. Accordingly, concentrations of potassium removed from soils by three EUF and six chemical extraction procedures were compared, on a group of 50 soils which contained less than 20% clay and on a second group of 52 soils which contained from 20 to 50% clay, by means of regression and correlation techniques. The following three EUF extraction procedures were tested: (i) 50 V at 5-min; (ii) 50 V at 5-min plus 200 V at 25-min; and (iii) 300 V at 15-min. Results indicated that the concentrations of soil K found in the combined anolyte and catholyte of the EUF or removed by the chemical procedures were very closely related (r-values generally greater than 0.90). However, EUF was less efficient in removing K from soils containing higher proportions of clay than NH4OAc, the new Mehlich solution, or the double acid mixture used at 1:30 wt/vol soil-solution ratio. As soil K fractions extracted by different EUF procedures were closely related among themselves as well as between the chemical methods tested, EUF would not provide soil fertility information that could not be obtained by less laborious and expensive chemical procedures. Key words: Soil testing, NH4OAc, double acid, new Mehlich extractant, electro-ultrafiltration