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Lime application combined with complementary sustainable management practices increases crop yields, but liming is only modestly applied in Serbia. This study investigated the influence of liming (1000 kg/ha) combined with the common application of mineral fertilizers on maize yield and the chemical properties of pseudogley soil. The experiment was conducted near Kraljevo, Western Serbia, on the maize hybrid ZP 606 sown in a two-year monoculture. The experiment had three treatments: fertilizer, fertilizer + lime, and a control treatment. The soil is acid, poor in humus, and contains an increased content of mobile aluminum. There was a significant increase in yield under the fertilizer and lime + fertilizer treatments, compared to the control. The yield of maize in the limed treatment was 4.4–9% higher than in the fertilizer treatment. The positive effects of liming on soil are related to an increase in pH, base saturation, and available phosphorus, and a decrease in available aluminum. In the fertilizer treatment, there was a small decrease in pH and base saturation, whereas the amount of aluminum remained high, indicating that the further application of fertilizers without lime can increase aluminum content and foster its toxicity. The long-term sustainability of maize production in Serbia should include liming as a regular management practice on pseudogley soil, with the utilization of smaller doses of lime because of the potential CO2 effects. To improve soil health, food, and environmental security, and to incorporate new crops, developing a framework promoting liming as a sustainable management practice is of high importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (2–10% of fertiliser N) were observed previously from acid soils cropped with sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) in Australia. We assessed the impact of lime, a nitrification inhibitor (NI, as 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate, DMPP), and copper (Cu) on N2O emissions from an acid sugarcane soil in a laboratory experiment using (1) urea (U), (2) U + DMPP, (3) U + CuSO4.5H2O (U + Cu), and (4) U + DMPP + Cu. The treatments were applied to both an un-limed soil (pH 5.1) and a limed soil (pH 6.9) and incubated at 25 °C and 55% water holding capacity (WHC) for 28 d, and then increased to 90% WHC for another 8 d to favour denitrification. At 55% WHC, both the addition of the NI (U + DMPP) and the liming of the acid soil significantly decreased cumulative N2O emissions, due to significantly lower net nitrifications. Liming and DMPP decreased N2O emissions by 79% and 90%, respectively. However, where lime and DMPP were applied together, N2O emissions decreased by 94% compared to those in the un-limed (acid) U-treated soil. In contrast, the addition of Cu and the increase in water content to 90% WHC had no significant effect on N2O emissions. Therefore, the combined use of lime and DMPP provides the best option to decrease N2O emissions from the acid soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many soil improvement practices are directly related to the reduction of weed infestation in crops. Sustainable use of the acid moraine loam Bathygleyic Distric Glossic Retisol prevailing in Western Lithuania is associated with the appropriate intensity of liming and tillage. Research was carried out at the Vėžaičiai Branch of Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry during the period 2015-2018 in two long-term field experiments: liming (established in 1949) and soil tillage methods (established in 2003). The aim of the study was to establish the trends in weed infestation variation in the crop rotation after a long-term application of agronomic practices of different intensity (soil tillage and liming). Treatments of the soil tillage were as follows: conventional ploughing, shallow ploughing and shallow ploughless tillage. Treatments of liming were as follows: unlimed (pHKCl 4.0-4.1) and limed (pHKCl 6.2-6.8). The following weed infestation indicators were investigated: weed number and mass, weed species number, weed seed bank in the soil depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm. Findings of the study suggest that the long-term liming had an impact on the disappearance of dominating acidophilic weeds from crop communities. In a limed soil (pH 6.4-6.8), the total number of weeds was 4.1 times lower compared to that in a naturally acid soil (pH 4.0-4.1). The contamination with weed seeds was 14.2 times greater in the naturally acid soil; however, irrespective of the soil acidity (pH), vertical seed distribution was determined to be similar in different depths of the soil. The long-term conventional ploughing reduced crop weediness in the soil of low acidity (5.1-5.3). The total weed number and mass were 1.6 and 1.4 times greater in the treatment of reduced tillage soil. The effect of long-term regular soil tillage tended to cause changes to the depth of soil loosening, affecting vertical weed seed distribution. Under reduced tillage conditions, the soil depth of 0-10 cm was the most contaminated with weed seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cropping systems of northern Idaho and eastern Washington are dominated by a cereal-based (winter wheat) rotation that is exclusively rainfed. Following the green revolution, the productivity of wheat increased dramatically with semi-dwarf varieties and inexpensive synthetic fertilizers. However, long-term and frequent use of ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizers has resulted in the gradual acidification of fields in the region, with reduced productivity and symptoms of aluminum toxicity in some locations. A micronized liquid formulation of lime (calcium carbonate) was evaluated at three locations to mitigate soil acidification in comparison to a no-lime control. To examine how liming affects bacterial community structure, soil samples were taken in the spring in wheat and pea rotations 7 and 19 months after lime application, DNA was extracted and the V1-V3 portion of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced with Illumina MiSeq. pH was only increased ∼0.2–0.3 units in most locations, and liming only had a significant effect on bacterial community composition at one location (Pullman). Liming had no consistent or significant effect on community richness or diversity. Location had a stronger effect on communities than liming or crop rotation, but some specific taxa increased in relative abundance in response to liming, including the families Cytophagaceae and Flavobacteriaceae (Phylum Bacteroidetes), A4b (Phylum Chloroflexi), and Opitutaceae (Phylum Verrucomicrobia). A number of operational taxonomic units (OTU) in Chitinophagaceae and Xanthomonadaceae were increased by liming at the Pullman location, which had 3–4 X more OTUs affected by liming than the other locations. Streptomycetaceae and Oxalobacteraceae were more abundant in root zone soil of wheat than pea. In conclusion, there was a strong interaction between liming and location in determining soil bacterial composition, but specific components of the bacterial community responded to even minimal increases in soil pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations on phosphorus (P) distribution in a naturally acid and limed moraine loam, Bathypogleyic Dystric Glossic Retisol were conducted in a site of a long-term experiment at the Vėžaičiai Branch of Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry in 2008 and 2011. The aim of the present study was to determine the distribution of different phosphorus forms and fractions in naturally acid soil limed for a long time (62 years). During this study different amounts (18.4 and 104.9 t ha-1) of lime materials were incorporated into the soil and affected the formation of two soil pHKCl levels - acidic (5.6) and near to neutral (6.7). Seven different organic and mineral phosphate fractions and plant-available phosphorus were determined in the soil. The long-term soil liming was found to have no significant effect on the total P content and its distribution, but caused the changes in the proportions between the different phosphorus forms. Major part of mineral (74.02- 83.68%) and organic (88.9-93.8%) P was composed of Al and Fe phosphates. Soil liming using ×2.0 liming rates every 3-4 years influenced a significant increase of the phosphates (AlPO4 and Al(Fe)PO4) little-available to plants obtained by the second cycle of extraction. It was determined that when soil pH becomes near to neutral, water soluble and plant-available P increases compared to its value measured at native pH. Increase of soil pHKCl till 6.7 had a significant effect on the amount of little plant-available Ca phosphates and less soluble organic phosphorus fraction amount in soil. The relatively optimal amounts of phosphorus fractions available for plants were determined in the soil with a pHKCl of 5.6, achieved by liming with a 0.5 rate every 7 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Kerala, except for a small area of black soil in Chitoor, the entire soil is acidic. Liming is a dominant and effective practice to overcome constraints and improve crop production on such soils. A field experiment was conducted during January to May, 2013 at College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara to study the effects of soil ameliorants on rice crop. Calcium oxide (CaO) @ 377 kg ha-1 together with FYM and NPK, and 'Mangala setright' @ 774 kg ha-1 enhanced the soil pH from an initial 5.3 and maintained it above 6.0, which is considered good for rice. The treatments also resulted in significantly higher root weight, root spread and leaf chlorophyll content. The treatment which received the recommended package of practices for rice cultivation resulted in a significantly higher rice dry matter production at all the growth stages. Ameliorants other than dolomite created a favourable soil environment with an optimum pH and nutrient content which resulted in greater nutrient uptake by crop and consequent development of chlorophyll, enhanced photosynthesis and ultimately higher dry matter production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inadequate provision of winter and early spring forage is a major problem for ruminant production in Yunnan Province, China. Temperate legumes (e.g., white clover) combined with perennial grasses (e.g., perennial ryegrass, cocksfoot) have the potential to fill this feed gap for livestock production when high fertiliser inputs are maintained. In commercial practice, however, these legume/grass pastures perform poorly and lack persistence due to poor fertiliser management. This paper describes a low-input fertiliser strategy developed to maintain productive pastures on moderately acid (ph = 5.3) Hapludult (red earth) soils in Malong county, Yunnan. Since initial soil tests showed major deficiencies of phosphorus (P) (<6 mg kg-1 Bray P) and potassium (k) (16 mg kg-1), a three-replicate experiment was done that included four rates of fused calcium magnesium phosphate (caMgP) fertiliser (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 kg ha-1 yr-1), four rates of potassium sulphate (K2SO4) fertiliser (0, 100, 200 and 300 kg ha-1 yr-1) and four rates of quick (or burnt) lime (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 kg ha-1 yr-1) to define a low-input P, C and ca strategy for white clover/cocksfoot/ perennial ryegrass pasture. Our results indicated that the lowest P rate (117 kg P ha-1 3 yr-1) when combined with adequate K (123 kg k ha-1 3 yr-1) and ca (1.3 t Ca ha-1 3 yr-1) inputs produced 86% of the white clover production and 96% of the cocksfoot production measured at the highest P rate. Potassium had no effect on pasture production when applied without P, but had a significant effect on the yield of white clover when combined with P fertiliser. Lime application had no effect on either pasture production or the levels of available soil P and K, but it did raise soil pH to above 6.5. Potassium deficiency was more serious for white clover than for the grasses, and an annual application of c. 50 kg K ha-1 was needed to retain white clover as a stable pasture component on these soils. We conclude from our results that it is technically feasible to make introduced temperate pastures on acid soils in Malong county productive through an annual application of a modest fertiliser rate comprising 500 kg ha-1 of fused CaMgP and 100 kg ha-1 of sulphate of potassium to overcome nutrient deficiencies. Due to the complexity of acid soil problems, we recommend a three-step process for successful pasture management: (1) undertake soil tests to identify the specific soil properties and nutrient deficiencies that are likely to limit pasture productivity; (2) choose pasture combinations that correctly match pasture species with existing soil constraints; and (3) tailor fertiliser strategies to specifically meet the nutrient requirements of the chosen pasture combination. Using this approach we recommend that low inputs of P and K be applied annually and that perennial ryegrass be deleted from the temperate pasture species combination recommended for moderately acid soils in Malong county. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar, an ecologically friendly soil amendment, is suggested for large-scale field application for its multiple potential benefits, including carbon sequestration, crop yield improvement, and the abatement of greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is unknown how effective it is in changing soil properties and its associated yield improvement when biochar is co-applied with lime in acidic soil. Here, we examined the effects of two different biochars, i.e., rice husk biochar (RHB) and oil palm empty fruit bunches biochar (EFBB), and lime on nutrient availability, the yield of maize, and soil CO2 emission of acid soil. Biochars were applied at two different rates (10 and 15 t ha−1) in combination with two rates of lime (100% and 75%), while the recommended rate of NPK fertilizers, 100% lime, and without any amendments (control) were also included. Hybrid sweet corn was grown in pots with 20 kg soils for 75 days. Plant performance and soil analyses were performed before and after crop maize cultivation while CO2 emission was recorded. Compared to the control, combined RHB biochars with lime significantly buffered soil pH and increased nutrient availability (e.g., P by 137%), while reducing Al and Fe concentration at harvest. These changes in soil properties significantly increased maize yield (by 77.59%) and nutrient uptake compared to the control. Between the two biochars, RHB was relatively more effective in making these changes than EFBB. However, this treatment contributed to a greater carbon loss as CO2 (209% and 145% higher with RHB and EFBB) from soil than the control. We believe that biochar-mediated buffering of soil pH is responsible for this change. Our results suggest that combined biochar application could bring desirable changes in soil properties and increase crop performance, although these effects can be short-lived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]