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Witczak R. , Diatta J. 2010. APPLICATION OF CALCIUM-ALUMINUM-BALANCE (CAB) INDICES IN ACID SOILS FOR EVALUATING WINTER WHEAT RESPONSE TO CALCIUM-BEARING FERTILIZERS, EJPAU 13(2/volume13), #01.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume13/issue2/volume13/abs-01.html

ABSTRACT

Field trials were established in 2006 at Gluszyna Lesna
(52°18' N, 16°55' E), a 300 hectares Agricultural Farm,
near Poznan. Winter wheat, variety Tonacja was the test plant. Three kinds of
calcium-bearing fertilizers i.e., (i) CaO – 80% CaO, (ii) CaO + MgO – 60/20 (% basis) CaO/MgO, (iii) CaCO₃ – 52% CaO, were applied at four rates: 0, 500, 1000, 1500 kg CaO·ha^-1 at the first decade of September 2006. Nitrogen was applied once as NH₄NO₃ at tillering at the rate 120 kg·ha^-1. Soil samples were collected at the depths 0-20 cm at harvest. Soil chemical analyses
involved: pH (1 mole KCl·dm^-3), exchangeable aluminum (Al_ex),
exchangeable base cations (Ca_ex, Mg_ex, K_ex and
Na_ex, extracted by 1 mole CH₃COONH₄·dm^-3 (pH
7.0). Since soils were acid, the effective CEC (CEC_e) was then obtained
by summation of extractable acidity assessed in 1 mole KCl·dm^-3 and
exchangeable base cations. From these, indices such as Ca_sat (Ca
saturation); Al_sat (Al saturation) and CAB (Calcium-Aluminum
Balance), were calculated and applied for testing winter wheat (yield, mainly)
response to calcium and aluminum interactions under acid and very acid soil conditions.
Results have revealed, that part of CAB indices shifted towards aluminum
for both calcium-bearing fertilizers, i.e., CaO and CaO + MgO, as a result of
Al prevalence over Ca in investigated soils. This implies the worsening of plant
growth conditions related to the shortage of adequate calcium levels and hence
relatively low grain yields. It appeared also, that grain yield remained still
relatively appreciable, (CAB raised up to 1.00) for both cases i.e., CaO and
CaO + MgO. The effect of CaO + MgO on plant growth was mediated by nitrogen and
magnesium. The application of CaCO₃ raised CAB indices above 1.0 and
even up to 1.4, which was the highest among these three fertilizers. Of additional
value was the response of winter wheat yield to calcium and aluminum levels expressed
as Ca_sat, Al_sat. It was shown, that irrespective of applied
calcium-bearing fertilizers i.e., CaO, CaO + MgO, and CaCO₃, grain
yield increased along with Ca saturation levels. However the opposite trend was
observed in the case of Al_sat, where the increase in aluminum saturation
led decidedly and systematically to yield decrease being the lowest at Al_sat ca 35–40%
(CaO, CaO+MgO) and 25% (CaCO₃).

Key words: acidification, calcium-bearing fertilizers, winter wheat, calcium-aluminum-balance (CAB), aluminum saturation (Al_sat), calcium saturation (Ca_sat).

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Radosław Witczak
Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Environmental Biogeochemistry,
Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland
Wojska Polskiego 71F, 60-625 Poznań, Poland
email: witczak.radoslaw@wp.pl

Jean Bernard Diatta
Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Environmental Biogeochemistry,
Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland
Wojska Polskiego 71F, 60-625 Poznań, Poland
email: jeandiatta63@yahoo.com

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