Soil
acidity is a critical issue necessitating urgent attention in most highlands of
Ethiopia due to its impact on crop production productivity. Application of
organic and inorganic amendments could effectively minimize the problem and
improve the fertility level of the soil. Accordingly, a greenhouse experiment
was conducted to evaluate the effects of sole and combined applications of
lime, FYM, compost and P on soil chemical properties incubated at 20, 40 and 60
days. The treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design with three
replications. The results indicated that various treatment combinations raised
the soil pH at the 40 days of incubation. All
treatments showed increased P availability consistently with increasing time of
incubation. Maximum available P was observed at the 60 days of incubation due
to application of 8 t FYM ha-1
+ 30 kg P ha-1 + 5 t lime ha-1 followed by 8 t compost ha-1 + 30 kg P ha-1
+ 5 t lime ha-1. Exchangeable acidity and Al were reduced at
the 40 and 60 days of incubation with the application of 30 kg P ha-1 +
10 t lime ha-1 followed by 4 t FYM or compost ha-1 + 15 kg
P ha-1 + 10 t lime ha-1. Highest exchangeable Ca was
obtained at 20 days of incubation with the application of 30 kg P ha-1
+ 10 t lime ha-1 followed by 4 t ha-1 FYM + 15 kg P ha-1
+ 10 t lime ha-1. Sole addition of 10 t lime ha-1
elevated ECEC from 19.29
to 22.30 cmolc kg-1 at
the 40 days of incubation. Likewise, combined applications of 30 kg P ha-1
+ 10 t lime ha-1 improved ECEC of the soil from 19.53 to 24.27 cmolc kg-1 at the 40 days of incubation.
Integrated applications of organic and inorganic amendments were found more
effective to reduce soil acidity and Al3+ concentration with
increasing the fertility of the soil.
Primary Language | English |
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Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | July 1, 2018 |
Published in Issue | Year 2018 Volume: 7 Issue: 3 |