Slow movement of alkali from surface-applied lime warrants the introduction of strategic tillage for rapid amelioration of subsurface acidity in south-western Australia
G. Azam
A B and C. Gazey A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 75 York Road, Northam WA 6401 Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: gaus.azam@dpird.wa.gov.au
Soil Research 59(1) 97-106 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR19329
Submitted: 14 November 2019 Accepted: 30 July 2020 Published: 31 August 2020
Journal compilation © CSIRO 2021 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Conventional surface-application of agricultural lime takes many years to increase pH deeper in the soil profile, which is a barrier to increased adoption of liming. We conducted a series of experiments to measure the rate of vertical movement of alkali and identify the factors that determine this movement into the subsurface, to evaluate the feasibility of ameliorating acidic subsurface soil using residual (undissolved) lime (CaCO3) at Wongan Hills (30.85°S, 116.74°E) and Merredin (31.48°S, 118.21°E) and to test whether deep tillage and lime incorporation can significantly speed up the amelioration of subsurface soil acidity at Kalannie (30.42°S, 117.29°E). Multiple applications of lime to the surface of the soil at higher rates (total 6–8.5 Mg ha–1) significantly increased subsurface soil pH but only in the 0.10–0.20 m depth by 0.049 pH units per year over 10–24 years. A large proportion of the surface-applied lime was stratified in the top few centimetres of the soil and incorporation of this undissolved lime with a rotary hoe to a depth of 0.25 m significantly increased soil pH (by 0.63 units) within a year in the Wongan Hills field experiment. Deep incorporation of 6 Mg ha–1 lime to a depth of 0.45 m through excavation and spading with a small rotary hoe also increased soil pH by more than a unit and decreased Al concentration to below the toxic level within two months in the Kalannie experiment, allowing wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants to produce root systems up to 0.59 m deep compared with 0.26 m for the control. Our soil column leaching experiment indicated that surface incorporation of lime in higher rainfall regions can be useful to treat subsurface soil acidity but that the rate of improvement in subsurface pH was slow. Therefore, deeper incorporation of lime using cost-effective strategic deep tillage is likely to be necessary.
Additional keywords: aluminium toxicity, deep incorporation, liming, residual CaCO3, Western Australia, wheat.
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