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Effect of Al-tolerant and Al-sensitive Maize Varieties on Soil Acidity of an Ultisol with Application of Nitrate Fertilizer

M M Masud
SSO
Soil Science Div., BARI, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Jiu-yu Li
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O.Box 821, Nanjing, China

Ren-kou Xu*
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O.Box 821, Nanjing, China

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The pot experiment was set up to examine the varietal effects of maizes on pH changes in the rhizosphere induced by nitrate uptake. Aluminium (Al)-tolerant maize variety Yunrui 8, A1- fairly sensitive Zhengdan 958 and Al-sensitive variety Suyunuo 5 (Zea maize L) were grown in natural lit greenhouse, respectively. Three levels of N (0, 100, 200 mg/kg) were supplied with Ca(NO₃)2 where Ca was balanced by addition of CaCl₂. Two season trials showed that application of nitrate increased rhizosphere pH and decreased exchangeable acidity in all treatments where Al-tolerant Yunrui 8 maize was more effective than other two varieties. After two seasons, application of higher dose of N increased rhizosphere pH up to 0.66 units under Yunrui 8 growing pot where 0.55 units and 0.44 units increased by growing Zhengdan 958 and Suyunuo 5 varieties, respectively. Opposite phenomenon was found for the amount of soil exchangeable acidity under the same varieties of treatments. The results suggested that biological amelioration of soil acidity through managing NO₃ − -N uptake is more effective by using Al-tolerant variety of maize.

Keywords: Bioremediation of acidic Ultisol, OHrelease, Maize, NO3 -N uptake, soil pH, Soil exchangeable acidity

Location:

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Crop-Soil-Water Management

Commodity: Maize

Objectives:

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of nitrate fertilization on crop growth as related to pH changes in the rhizosphere and quantify OHrelease by plant roots under acidic Ultisol.

Methodology:

Soil: An acidic Ultisol (U.S. Soil Taxonomy) (Haplic Acrisol in the WRB Taxonomy) used in this study was collected from Langxi, Anhui Province, China. The soil is derived from Quarternary red earth. The field site had a history of canola-peanut cropping rotation for 20 years. The sample was taken from the topsoil (0–10 cm), air-dried and ground to pass a 2-mm sieve and used in the following three nitrogen treatments. Pot trial: Three pot trials were conducted based on growing Al tolerant, fairly sensitive and sensitive maize crops. Firstly, there was a basal fertilizer (B.F.) treatment in which 150mg/kg KH₂PO₄ was added to 3.5 kg of the soil. Secondly, for each trial three levels of N fertilizer (0, 100, 200 mg N/kg) from Ca(NO₃)2.4H₂O source as treatment where CaCl₂ was used for Ca balanced. Each treated soil was carefully packed in compartments of the pot, watered to reach 60% water holding capacity (WHC) and keep at this level throughout the experiment. Seeds of the maize Yunrui 8 (Al toxicity tolerant), Zhengdan 958 (A1 toxicity fairly sensitive) and Suyunuo 5 (Al toxicity sensitive) were grown in a naturally lit glasshouse for 3 months. After harvest, the same variety of maize seeds were grown in the same pot for another 3 months. Whenever, 9 seeds were used in each pot, respectively. At the end of the each pot trial, the whole shoots and roots were harvested by removing them from the individual pots. The plants were washed with deionized water, oven-dried at 105°C for 30 min and then 85°C to a constant weight, and then weighed in order to determine the dry matter yield. Soil samples were collected from pots separately, air-dried, and ground to pass a 0.3-mm sieve. Soil analysis Initial and past harvest soil pH was measured with an Orion 940E pH meter in a 1:2.5 soil to water suspension. Soil exchangeable acidity was extracted using 1.0 M KCl and then titrated with 0.25 M NaOH to pH 7.0 (Pansu and Gautheyrou 2006). Soil exchangeable base cations were extracted with 1.0 M ammonium acetate (pH 7.0) (Pansu & Gautheyrou, 2006) and then Ca2+ and Mg2+ were measured using AAS, and K+ and Na+ with flame photometry. The soil NH₄ + -N and NO₃ - -N were extracted with 2.0 M KCl using a 1:5 soil to solution ratio (Pansu and Gautheyrou 2006) and then determined by the continuous flow analytical system (Skalar San++, The Netherlands). Hydroxyl ion released by plant was calculated from soil pH buffering capacity. Soil pH buffer capacities were determined from titration curves established by shaking 4 g of soil for 17 h in 20 ml 0.01 M CaCl₂ with varying amounts of HCl and KOH (Tang, 1998). Statistical analysis: Software package, SPSS 20.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for the statistical analysis of data. A oneway analysis of variance was undertaken for each crop harvest to determine significant differences among treatments. The significant effects for various treatments were detected using t test.

Source of Information: Eco-friendly Agril. J. 7(02): 06-11, 2014 (February)

Article Link (Online Journal): http://efaj-international.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1-EFAJ-702-06-11-2014.pdf

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The results presented in this study indicated that Al tolerant variety had ability to produce more OHby NO3 - -N absorption and consequently higher root and soot biomass production than that of Al-fairly sensitive and Al-sensitive varieties of maize. Rhizosphere pH should be increased and soil exchangeable acidity decreased if nitrate is used as N fertilizers in the maize crop. Greater rhizosphere pH increased and exchangeable acidity decreased by Al-tolerant maize variety with nitrate application. This change was more effective when nitrate fertilizer was applied in the second season. So, Al-tolerant maize variety is more effective then Al-fairly sensitive and Al-sensitive maize varieties on soil acidity of an Ultisol.

Knowledge Management: Journal