Effects of Boron Fertilizer on Tomato,Pepper, and Cucumber Yields and Chemical Composition

In many parts of the world, boron (B) levels are insufficient for potential production. Boron deficiency is also widespread in the Anatolia region of Turkey. Boron deficiency could impact production and quality of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum L.), pepper (Capsicum annum L.), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). A two-year greenhouse experiment was conducted to study yield and quality response of three vegetables to B addition (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 kg B ha^?1). The optimum economic B rates (OEBR) were 2.3, 2.6, 2.4 kg B ha^?1, resulting in soil B concentrations of 0.33, 0.34 and 0.42 mg kg^?1. Independent of plant species, B application decreased tissue nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) but increased tissue phosphorus (P), potassium (K), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) concentrations. We conclude that a B addition of 2.5 kg ha^?1 is sufficient to elevate soil B levels to nondeficient levels. Similar studies with different soils and initial soil-test B levels are needed to conclude if these critical soil test values and OEBR can be applied across the region.     

在含盐新成土上施加有机肥和化学改良剂对土壤性质和作物产量的影响

A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years in a farmer‘s field at Haji Mora Village, Dera Ismail Khan (D.I. Khan) in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan to compare various management practices, such as the effect of various organic manures and gypsum in a rice-wheat cropping system on a saline-sodic Entisol (Zindani soil series). The treatments consisted of 1) a control (rice-wheat), 2) gypsum, 3) farmyard manure (FYM), 4) berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) as green manure (GM), and 5) dhancha (Sesbania sp.) as GM. All treatments increased yields of both rice and wheat significantly (P (0.01) over the control, with the green manure treatments proving more economical than the others; while they decreased pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of the soil. Saturation percentage and available water of the soil were raised for all treatments due to an increase in organic matter content of the soil.     

陕西三种类型土壤剖面硝酸盐累积、分布与土壤质地的关系

研究了陕北黄绵土,关中土与陕南水稻土土壤剖面中硝酸盐的分布与累积,分析了硝酸盐淋移与土壤剖面粘粒含量的关系。结果表明,黄绵土由于粘粒含量少,土壤疏松,氮肥施入土壤后硝化作用速度快,氮素多以硝态氮存在于土壤中,遇到过量的灌溉或降水,容易引起硝酸盐淋失。在米脂的川道地,施肥2个月后,硝酸盐峰值在50cm左右,4个多月后,峰值下移至100cm左右,6个月后,该峰值下降到130cm左右,一年内,硝酸盐的峰值已经消失,分布在130至350cm之间。因此,在黄绵土地区可以灌溉的川道地,氮素损失的主要途径是硝酸盐淋失。关中土,粘粒含量相对较高,硝化作用速度快,但由于在80120cm有一粘化层,阻碍了水分与硝酸盐的向下淋移,使得大部分硝酸盐累积在0100cm土层,其累积量占到0400cm总累积量的64%～74%,而200400cm仅占到7%～13%。而且淋移到100cm以下的硝酸盐,也通过反硝化损失了。陕南水稻土,由于深层土壤水饱和,硝酸盐难以向下淋移,氮素主要累积在土壤表层。由于下层土壤长期处于厌气条件,即使淋移到下层的硝酸盐也通过反硝化作用而损失掉了。     

Root–soil adhesion as affected by crop species in a volcanic sandy soil of Mexico

Field observations have shown that root residues maintain root-adhering soil for several months after harvest. The aim of this work was to compare post-harvest effect of Amaranthus hypochondriacus (amaranth), Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) and Zea mays (maize) roots on root-adhering soil, aggregation and organic carbon content. The experimental site was located on a volcanic sandy soil (Typic Ustifluvent) in the Valley of Mexico. In 1999 and 2000, maize had the highest root mass (92 and 94 g m⁻²) and the highest root-adhering soil (9051 and 5876 g m⁻²) when a root–soil monolith of 0.20 m × 0.20 m × 0.30 m was excavated after harvest. In contrast, bean roots (2 and 5 g m⁻²) had only 347 and 23 g m⁻² of adhering soil per monolith in each year. Amaranth had intermediate values between maize and bean. Dry soil aggregate classes (<0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5 and >5 mm) were similarly distributed among the three species. The sum of the three soil macro-aggregates classes >1 mm was 0.1 g g⁻¹ in both years. Neither water stability of the 2–5 mm aggregates (0.05–0.09 g g⁻¹) nor soil organic C (SOC) in three aggregate classes (<0.25, 1–2 and >5 mm; mean 14.6 mg g⁻¹) was affected by species (P < 0.05) in either year. Observations of thin sections (10× and 40×) revealed absence of macro-aggregates under maize. Soil compaction was attributed to high mass of maize roots in the sampled soil volume. Root systems sampled after harvest had the capacity to maintain a well structured soil mass, which was proportional to root mass. Root-adhering soil measured in the field could be used to select species promoting soil adhesion by roots.     

Hydrolysis of ammonium polyphosphate in soils under aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Summary The hydrolysis of fertilizer-grade solid and liquid ammonium polyphosphate (APP) was studied on an aluvial (Entisol, Typic Ustifluvent), a sodic (Entisol Aquic Ustifluvent), and a laterite (Oxisol, Aquox) soil under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The hydrolysis rate was the fastest on laterite, intermediate on sodic, and slowest in the alluvial soil. Ammonium polyphosphate hydrolyzed more rapidly under anaerobic than under aerobic conditions. The hydrolysis of liquid ammonium polyphospahte was faster than that of solid ammonium polyphosphate in all soils. The half-life values for the polyforms of P in liquid ammonium polyphosphate ranged from 1.6 to 2.0 days under anaerobic and from 5.2 to 8.7 days under aerobic conditions. The corresponding values for solid ammonium polyphosphate were 3.9 to 9.2 days under anaerobic and 12.5 to 27.0 days under aerobic conditions.     

Boron Availability in Building up Fertility in Cerrado Soil of Tocantins

ABSTRACT

The expansion of agricultural activity in the Cerrado biome raises the importance of building soil fertility in micronutrients, however, the dynamics of these elements in different soil classes remains to be understood. The objective aimed to evaluate the availability of boron (B) in the soil in function of sources and incubation times to build the fertility of Oxisol and Entisol (Quartzipsamment). The experimental design was completely randomized with 50 treatments obtained in a 5 × 10 factorial scheme, being: five sources (boric acid, sodium octaborate, sodium tetraborate, boron oxide, and boron oxisulphate) and ten incubation times (0, 5, 10, 15, 25, 40, 55, 70, 85 and 100 days), with three repetitions. For all sources, the applied B dose was 4.0 mg dm^?3 in soil samples of 0.5 dm³, with pH corrected to 6.0. In the two soils evaluated, borate fertilization promoted significant effects (p ≤ 0.05) on the availability of B and the efficiency of fertilization over the incubation time. The highest levels of B available in soils resulted from the use of less soluble sources, representing a fertilization efficiency above 75% when using boron oxisulphate in the Oxisol and greater than 85% with the use of boron oxide in the Entisol. The sources of greater solubility achieved an average efficiency of 10.66%. It is concluded that fertilization with borate sources affects the availability of boron to the building of soil fertility, however, the most soluble ones are less efficient to maintain good availability (>0.5 mg dm^?3) after 40 days of application.     

Dynamics and Nutrient Release Pattern of Silica Sources in a Typical Entisol of Tropical Humid Region of Kerala

Silicon is considered as a beneficial element for crop nutrition especially for monocots. In order to study the effect of addition of different silica sources on the nutrient release pattern from an Entisol, a laboratory incubation study was conducted with three silica sources viz., sodium silicate, calcium silicate, and potassium silicate each @ 200 ppm and 400 ppm per kilo gram soil. The positive effect of addition of silicates was obvious on soil reaction, available Si, P, K, Ca, and Mg. Release of plant available silicon was the highest at 60th day after incubation (DAI) with potassium silicate @ 400 ppm per kg soil. Sodium silicate @ 200 ppm resulted in the highest exchangeable magnesium concentration at 45th DAI. The result of the study implies the positive influence of silicates on soil acidity as well as on enhancing the availability of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium in an Entisol.