Surface application of liming materials with biochar and organic amendments for subsoil acidity amelioration in the laterite soils
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The study aimed to evaluate liming materials combined with biochar and organic amendments for surface and subsoil acidity amelioration. A soil column incubation study was conducted under laboratory conditions for 12 weeks using the southern laterite soils (AEU-8) of Kerala, at College of Agriculture, Vellayani. The 17 treatments studied included farmyard manure (FYM) at 20 t ha− 1, humic acid (HA) at 10 kg ha− 1, poultry manure (PM) at 1 t ha− 1 and coconut frond biochar (CFB) at 10 t ha− 1 each in combination with lime, dolomite, calcium silicate (CS) or phosphogypsum (PG) at lime requirement (LR) and a soil alone control. After 12 weeks of incubation, soil pH was highest under CFB at 10 t ha⁻¹ with lime as per LR (6.7 at 0–15 cm), FYM at 20 t ha⁻¹ with CS as per LR (5.8 at 15–30 cm), and CFB at 10 t ha⁻¹ with PG as per LR (5.16 at 30–60 cm). Application of CFB at 10 t ha⁻¹ with CS as per LR significantly lowered exchangeable Al³⁺ (0.16, 0.16, 0.42 meq 100 g⁻¹) and H⁺ (0.11, 0.13, 0.21 meq 100 g⁻¹) while enhancing Ca²⁺ (792.46, 521.68, 498.69 meq 100 g⁻¹), and CFB at 10 t ha⁻¹ with dolomite as per LR maintained higher Mg²⁺ values (103.60, 90.31, 89.05 meq 100 g⁻¹) across soil depths. Among the tested combinations, the application of CFB at 10 t ha− 1 with CS ad per LR most effectively ameliorated subsoil acidity, followed by the treatment CFB at 10 t ha-1 with dolomite as per LR.
Source: Discover Soil.
Authors: M. R. Fida Banu, B. Rani
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Climate action
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4415816485