Saturday, 15 July 2006
152-5

Agricultural Use of Residues of the Cotton Acid Deleting Process.

Evangelia Vavoulidou, Anthi Dinirkou, Periklis Papadopoulos, and Christos Paschalidis. Soil Science Institute of Athens, NAGREF, 1 S. Venizelou str., Athens, 14125, Greece

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of residues of seed cotton acid deleting process in improving the physical and chemical properties of high salinity and high calcium content soils. In addition, the productivity of treated soils for the cultivation of wheat and lettuce was studied. Soil samples were collected from two different areas with high-salinity and high calcium content soil, respectively, and their physical and chemical properties were determined. Six experiments, with four replicates of ten treatments each, were carried out for each soil type and depth. For these the following amount of residues was added: 0.0, 0.54, 1.08, 1.62, 2.16, 5.40, 10.8, 27.0, 54.0, and 108.0 g/kg of soil. The following results were obtained. The pH was reduced as the amount of residue added increased, with a difference of 0.5 units between the lowest and highest dose. For the high salinity soils, the reduction was maintained over the experimental period, while for soils with a high calcium content, the pH returned to its initial value after two months. The exchangeable Na in the high salinity soils was reduced by 1.06 meq/100g from the lowest to the highest treatment. The CaCO3 content was reduced by 6.0-10.0% in the soils with high content-calcium and only by 2% in the high salinity soils. Due to the higher content of the residues in K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn, the content of these elements in both the treated soil increased with the amount of residue applied. Lettuces were cultivated in greenhouse pots in the two types of soil, each taken from two depths (0-30 cm and 30-60 cm, with six different amounts of the residues added:0.0 (control),1.08,1.62,2.16,5.40, 10.8. For the high salinity soils from both depths, the addition of 1.62 g/kg gave the best soil in terms of physicochemical properties and the nutritional content of lettuce plants. For the 30-60 cm soil, the weight of the lettuce plants increased by up to 58% compared with the control. For the high calcium content soils, a higher application rate of 2.16 g/kg gave the best results in terms of the height and weight of the lettuce plant, but the greatest increase in the mass of the plants in the soils from both depths was achieved with an application rate of 1.62g/kg. Wheat was cultivated in greenhouse pots in the same four soils with five different amounts of the residue added: 0.0 (control), 0.54, 27.0, 54.0, and 108.0 g/kg of soil. The only treatment that gave an increase in the plant height, the weight of the wheat ears and the number of seeds was the highest one, with increases of 13-19%, 75-103% and 95-171%, respectively. However, in all treatments, the weight of the plant and seeds were smaller than that of the control.

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