Register      Login
Soil Research Soil Research Society
Soil, land care and environmental research
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > SR > SR08254
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 48(2)

Effects of subsoil amendments on soil physical properties, crop response, and soil water quality in a dry year

T. M. McBeath A B , C. D. Grant A , R. S. Murray A and D. J. Chittleborough A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Earth and Environmental Sciences – Waite Campus, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: therese.mcbeath@adelaide.edu.au

Australian Journal of Soil Research 48(2) 140-149 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR08254
Submitted: 26 April 2008  Accepted: 29 May 2009   Published: 31 March 2010

Abstract

In southern Australia the ability of field crops to extract soil moisture and nutrients from depth depends on the physical and chemical properties of the subsoil. In texture-contrast soils accumulation of water and nutrients in the E or A2 horizon, immediately above a clay B horizon of much lower hydraulic conductivity (herein called the interface), may generate lateral flows and enhanced nutrient and solute transfer to water bodies. Evidence that deep-ripping with addition of subsoil nutrients can increase crop productivity in regions having hostile, alkaline subsoils led to experiments to test whether this response was related to an increase in the use of water and nutrients in the subsoil. Our study measured the effects of deep-ripping with and without amendments on soil physical and chemical properties of the A and upper B horizons of 2 South Australian soils. Deep-ripping and deep-placement of nutrients increased grain harvest weight even in an exceptionally dry season. The greater yield was accompanied by significantly lower field-penetration resistance to 0.35–0.50 m depth, which we hypothesise enabled the crop to better access stored soil water and deep placed nutrients in the subsoil. Residual effects from deep-ripping were minimal after 4 growing seasons; therefore, ripping will need to be practiced at regular intervals to maintain treatment effects. The ripping and nutrient amendments had no significant effect on exchangeable sodium percentage, electrical conductivity, and readily extractable phosphorus and nitrate-nitrogen, despite changes in these soil properties between spring and harvest sampling.

Additional keywords: compaction, water quality, nutrients, subsoil amelioration.


Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge funding from the Centre for Natural Resource Management (Department of Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation, SA), plus agronomic support from N. Wilhelm, P. Telfer, and T. Blacker, technical support from A. Taylor, S. Marchuk, S. Laurenson, and L. Jassogne, and collaboration at the Stansbury site from A. McNeill, D. Adcock, and M. Unkovich. Thanks to R. Davidson and M. Unkovich for statistical support and to anonymous reviewers for their contribution to this manuscript.


References


Adcock D, McNeill AM, McDonald GK, Armstrong RD (2007) Subsoil constraints to crop production on neutral and alkaline soils in Southern Australia: a review of current knowledge and management strategies. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47, 1245–1261.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Adcock D , Wilhelm N , McNeill A , Armstrong R (2006) Subsoil amelioration on a sand-over-clay: Crop performance and residual yield benefits. In ‘Australian Agronomy Conference’. Perth. (Australian Society of Agronomy)

APHA (1999) ‘Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater.’ (American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation: Washington, DC)

Baker J , Clothier B , Dane JH , Elrick D , Ferre PA , Norman JM , Reynolds WD , Scotter DR , Clarke G , Wierenga PJ (2002) The soil solution phase. In ‘Methods of soil analysis. Part 4. Physical methods’. (Ed. WA Dick) (Soil Science Society of America: Madison, WI)

Chhabra R (1996) ‘Soil salinity and water quality.’ (Balkema: Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Colwell JD (1963) The estimation of phosphorus fertilizer requirements of wheat in Southern New South Wales by soil analysis. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 3, 190–197.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

CSIRO (1988) ‘CSIRO instruction manual.’ (CSIRO: Canberra, ACT)

Daddow RL , Warrington GE (1983) ‘Growth limiting soil bulk densities as influenced by soil texture.’ (USDA: Fort Collins, CO)

Dougherty WJ, Nash DM, Chittleborough DJ, Cox JW, Fleming NK (2006) Stratification, forms and mobility of phosphorus in the topsoil of a Chromosol used for dairying. Australian Journal of Soil Research 44, 277–284.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Graham RD , Ascher JS (1993) Nutritional limitations of subsoils. In ‘Plant nutrition – from genetic engineering to field practice’. (Ed. NJ Barrow) pp. 739–742. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Amsterdam)

Grossman RB , Reinsch TG (2002) The solid phase. In ‘Methods of soil analysis. Part 4. Physical methods’. (Ed. WA Dick) pp. 201–417. (Soil Science Society of America Inc.: Madison, WI)

Hamza MA, Anderson WK (2005) Soil compaction in cropping systems. A review of the nature, causes and possible solutions. Soil & Tillage Research 82, 121–145.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Holloway RE (1996) Zinc as a subsoil nutrient for cereals. PhD Thesis, University of Adelaide, Australia.

Isbell RF (1997) ‘The Australian Soil Classification.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood, Vic.)

Klute A (1986) ‘Water retention: laboratory methods.’ (American Society of Agronomy Inc./Soil Science Society of America, Inc.: Madison, WI)

Lapen DR, Topp GC, Edwards ME, Gregorich EG, Curnoe WE (2004) Combination cone penetration resistance/water content instrumentation to evaluate cone penetration-water content relationships in tillage research. Soil & Tillage Research 79, 51–62.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Martin AE, Reeve R (1955) A rapid manometric method for determination of soil carbonate. Soil Science 79, 187–198.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

McKenzie DC, Hucker KW, Morthorpe LJ, Baker PJ (1990) Field calibration of a neutron-gamma probe in three agriculturally important soils of the Lower Macquarie Valley. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 30, 115–122.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Mokma DL , Schaetzl RH , Johnson EP , Doolittle JA , Mokma DL (1990) ‘Assessing Bt horizon character in sandy soils using ground penetrating radar: implications for soil survey. Soil Survey Horizons.’ (SSSA: Madison, WI)

Murphy J, Riley JP (1962) A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Analytica Chimica Acta 27, 31–36.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Peverill KI , Sparrow LA , Reuter DJ (Eds) (1999) ‘Methods of soil analysis – an interpretation manual.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood, Vic.)

Rayment GE , Higginson FR (1992) ‘Australian laboratory handbook of soil and water chemical methods.’ (Inkata Press: Melbourne, Vic.)

Rengasamy P (2000) Subsoil constraints and agricultural productivity. Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science 48, 674–682. open url image1

Shaw RJ (1999) Soil salinity-electrical conductivity and chloride. In ‘Soil analysis – an interpretation manual’. (Eds KI Peverill, LI Sparrow, DJ Reuter) pp. 129–145. (CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood, Vic.)

Simpson JR (1962) Mineral nitrogen fluctuations in soils under improved pasture in Southern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 13, 1059–1072.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Wang X, Lester DW, Guppy CN, Lockwood PV, Tang C (2007) Changes in phosphorus fractions at various soil depths following long-term P fertiliser application on a Black Vertosol from south-eastern Queensland. Australian Journal of Soil Research 45, 524–532.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Zarcinas BA, McLaughlin MJ, Smart MK (1996) The effect of acid digestion technique on the performance of nebulization systems used in inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 27, 1331–1354.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1









1Subsoil. Here the term is used to mean B horizons of soils with strong texture contrast between A (and E in the case of the Sodosol) horizons and the B horizon below. In the Australian Soil Classification these soils are Sodosols, Kurosols and Chromosols.