THE SOIL TEST KIT Analysis by the Soil Test Kit is a quick method of evaluating fertility status of a soil. It involves chemical analysis that measures the amount of nutrients in the soil that are available to the plant. Results are interpreted and used as basis in making a recommendation on the right kind and amount of fertilizer for a particular crop when grown in the soil being tested. The Soil Test Kit is a complete package of soil testing. It uses simple colorimetric chemical analyses in which chemical reagents are made to react with a soil sample in a test tube to give a characteristic color depending on the amount of available nutrients in the soil. The colors chart which rates whether the soil is low, medium, or high in available nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium. Also determined in similar manner is soil pH or acidity. The Soil Test Kit is Cheap, quick handy and easy to use. It does not require sophisticated laboratory instruments and specialized training for the user. Soil testing can be done right in the field and results are obtained within the hour. It is, therefore, useful toolto farmers and extension workers who oftentimes, need immediate answer to the question of what kind and amount of fertilizer to use for a crop grown in a particular soil. The Soil Test Kit is a small box 19 cm x 11 cm x 11 cm, weighing about 1 kJ. It contains chemical reagents, procedure and color charts, for analysis of organic matter, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium and lime requirement, tables for fertilizer recommendation for various crops and procedure for proper soil sampling technique. It is a product of research from the Department of Soil Science, University of the Philippines at Los Bafios’ in cooperation with the National Food and Agricultural Council. IMPORTANT REMINDERS ON THE USE AND CARE OF THE SOIL TEST KIT e Analyze or test only soil samples that are properly collected ( See guide: proper soil sampling) e Avoid contamination. Use only the test tube designated for the element being analyzed. For example, use test tube labelled N for testing 2Nitrogen, K for Potassium, P for Phosphorus and pH for soil pH. Use clean and preferably dry test tube. Do not interchange dropper and caps. To avoid this, immediately put back the dropper or cap into the corresponding bottle after each use. Always keep bottles tightly covered. Do not smoke during soil sampling or analysis. The chemical are corrosive and poisonous. Avoid inhalation or contact with your skin or clothing. Keep the test kit away from the reach of children. Store it in cools and dry place When chemical reagents run out, refills can be bought at the Department of Soil Science or a designated refill center at nominal cost. PROPER SOIL SAMPLING The main objective of soil sampling is to collect a small amount of soil sample weighing about one half kg that will represent the soil in a large area, e.g., one hectare furrow slice that weighs about 2 million kg. Since only a small amount of the soil sample is used in chemical analysis and results are projected for a large 3quantity of soil, the accuracy of soil testing depends largely on proper soil sampling. The rooting habit of plants must be considered. For crops with shallow rooting depth, samples collected from the surface layer (20-30 cm) will suffice. For deep rooted crops soil samples must be collected up to the subsoil (approx. 20-60cm). Using the most common farm tools and materials such as shovel or spade, knife or trowel, small pail and plastic bags, the following are steps on proper soil sampling technique. 1, Make amap of the farm showing Sampling Area (SA). Divide the farm into sampling areas. Hach sampling area should be more or less uniform in cropping history, past lime and fertilizer treatments, slope degree of erosion, soil texture and color. Each sampling area should not be more than 5 hectares 2. Collect Spot Soil Samples from each Sampling Area. In each sampling area dig from 5 to 10 pits and collect spot soil sample in each pit. The number of 4spot soil samples depends on the size of the sample. A spot soil sample is taken in the following manner. Random Sampliog to obtain cne compasite sample ter Fle 3 a. Before digging the pit, clear the soil surface of litters and vegetation. b. Using an auger, spade or shovel, dig a pit to a depth of 20-30 cm.T Soll slice 172" thick Soll probe Auger Spade From one vertical side of the pit, take a slice of soil 2. to 3 cm thick with a single downward thrust of the spade. Using a knife or a trowel. Trim the slice of soil on both side to a bar 3 to 4 cm width. This bar of soil (representing one spot soil sample) is then placed in the pail or any suitable clean container. If subsoil sample is needed, take a bar of soil from the succeeding 20 to 30 cm soil depth. The subsoil and surface sample should be placed in separate containers. Cover the pit and move to another spot.3. Take Composite Soil Sample After collecting all the spot soil samples of a particular sampling area, Pulverize, mix thoroughly and remove stones and fresh leaves from the soil in the container. A composite soil sample about 4 kg) is taken from the pail and placed in a clean plastic bag. The composite soil sample which represents the soil of the sampling area is ready for chemical analysis using a Soil Test Kit or may be sent to a Soil Testing Laboratory with pertinent label and information. Soil pH Soil pH is a measure of the degree of acidity or alkalinity. A pH of 7 is neutral. The lower the pH (below 7), the more acidic the soil is. On the other hand, the higher the pH (above 7) the soil becomes more alkaline.It is important to know the pH of a soil because the availability of most nutrients elements for plant growth and occurrence of toxicities of elements is related to soil pH. Most plant nutrients are readily available form at soil pH ranging from 5.5 to 7.0 hence; most plants prefer to grow within this range. However, nutritional disorders usually appear when pH values become higher or lower. The following table shows the nutritional disorders observed in relation to soil pH. Table 1. Nutrition disorders of crops as affected by pH. a Lower than 5.0 Deficiencies of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium and molybdenum Toxicities of aluminum, iron and manganese Higher than 7.5 Deficiencies of phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc toxicity of boron The productivity of either extremely acidic or highly alkaline soils can be improved by using anyone or combination of the following measures: 1, Use plant species/varieties that are tolerant to either highly acidic or highly alkaline soil reaction.2. Application of lime for acidic soils. 3. Application of gypsum and leaching the soil with good quality water for saline (salt affected) alkaline soils. 4. Application of fertilizer containing the possible deficient element as mentioned above in either highly acidic or alkaline soil condition. For lowland rice, if pH is 7.5 or greater the soil is liability deficient in zinc and either of the following is recommended: (a.) Dipping the roots of rice seedling in 2-4% zinc oxide suspension. (b.) Mixing with a portion of fertilizer at basal application, 5kg zinc sulfate per hectare. HOW TO USE THE TABLES FOR FERTILIZER RECOMMENDATION FOR VARIOUS CROPS After knowing whether the soil is low, medium or high in available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the Tables of Fertilizer Recommendation for Different Crops should be consulted to find the right amount 9and kind of fertilizers to use. Table | to 3 are fertilizers recommendations for vegetables, fruit trees and plantation crops, and field crops respectively, based on analysis by the Soil Test Kit. Tables 4 and 5 give the equivalent amount of fertilizer materials for those crops usually fertilized on per plant or per hill basis. In addition. Table 6 gives the equivalent weights of fertilizer materials if one uses containers commonly found in the farm to measure the amount of fertilizer to apply. It is important to emphasize that the result of the soil testing is not the sole basis of fertilizer recommendation. Other factors such as the cost of fertilizer in relation to anticipated price of the product, expected yield, plant response to higher rates of fertilization, climatic conditions and other risk factors in crop production and should be considered by the farmer in formulating the right kind of fertilizer to use. Examples on how to make a fertilizer recommendation is as follows: Case 1 Suppose that chemical analysis using the Soil Test Kit indicate that the soil is low in nitrogen, medium in phosphorus and sufficient potassium. The crop to be fertilized is ampalaya. 10Am. Consulting Table | for ampalaya, the fertilizer recommendation for nitrogen which is low in the soil is 60 to 120 kg N/ha, for phosphorus which is medium is 30-90 kg P205/ha while there is no need to apply potassium since the soil is sufficient in this nutrient element. Note that for nitrogen, the farmer could choose any amount from 60 to 120 kg N/ha. It is at this point that the farmer should considered the other factors (mentioned previously) in addition to the result of soil analysis in deciding the final amount of fertilizer (but within the 60-120 N/ha) to use. For instance, if conditions are such that fertilizers are expensive, market price of ampalaya is low and native variety (which is not responsive to fertilizer) is used. It is better for the farmer to select 60 kg N/ha because the risk of lower returns is greater. Similarly, he should choose the lower rate 30 kg P205/ha limit for phosphorus fertilizer. If the 60 kg N + 30kg P2OS/ha fertilizer rate is finally chosen, the equivalent amount in terms of fertilizer material per hill is 14.3g ammonium sulfate and 8.3g superphosphate as shown in Table 4. If one uses tansan (softdrink cap) in measuring the amount of fertilizer to apply per hill, then by consulting Table 6 the amount of fertilizer ammonium 11sulfate is equal to 14.3% + 7.4 = 1.9 or 2 tansans (heaping) per hill. Similarly, the 8.3 g solophos is equivalent to 2 tansans heaping full (8.3 + 4 = 2.1 or 2) or solophos per hill. Hence the final fertilizer application is 2 tansans (heaping) full of ammonium sulfate and 2 tansans (heaping) full of solophos per hill ampalaya. Case 2 Suppose that the results of soil analysis using the Soil test Kit indicate that a lowland soil is medium in available in sol nitrogen, high in phosphorus and low in potassium. If rice is to be planted during the dry season then by consulting Table 3, the fertilizer recommendation for rice during the dry season is any amount within the range of 45 to 75 kg N/ha for Nitrogen, 0 to 20 kg P205/ha for phosphorus and 20 to 60 kg K2O/ha for potassium. If a highly yielding variety is to be planted, the farm is full irrigated, control of pest and disease is adequate and high yield level is expected, the farmer should choose fertilizer rates close to the upper limit for each of the nutrient element, e.g. 75 kg N, 20kg P205/ ha and 60 K20 per hectare. If urea (45-0-0) solophos ((0-20-0) and muriate of potash (0-0-60) are to be used as the fertilizer 12materials the selected fertilizer rate of 75 kg N + 20kg P205 + 60 kg K20 per hectare is equivalent to: 75 4e 166 kg or 35; bags of urea per hectare oot 100 kg or 2 bags of solophos per hectare ae 100 kg or 2 bags of muriate per hectare (Note that 1 bag of fertilizer weighs 50 kg) However, if the variety to be used is not high yielding or not responsive to higher rates of fertilization, and there are uncertainties as to the adequacy of irrigation, control of pest and diseases, etc., hence, the yield are expected to be low. Since the risk of lower returns is high in this situation the farmer should therefore decide on applying the lower limits of 45 kg N30 kg P205 and 30 kg K20 per hectare which is equivalent to 2 bags of urea and 1 bag of muriate of potash. 13FERTILIZER RECOMMENDATIONS 1sST Table 1. Fertilizer recommendations for vegetable crops based on quick Soil Test Kit Nitrogen Medium Crop Ampalaya Beans, Lima Navy Snap, Bush Pole wing Brocolli Cabbage Cauliflower Chinese cabbage Cowpea Cucumber Eggplant Gabi Garlic Ginger Kundol Low 60-120 40-50 40-50 40-50 40-50 40-50, 90-240 60-90, 90-240 90-240 40-50 60-120 60-120 60-90, 60-150 90-240 60-120 30-60 20-40 20-40 20-40 20-40 20-40 30-90 30-60 30-90 30-90 20-40 30-60 30-60 30-60 30-60 30-90 30-60 Phosphorus (P20s) High Low Medium Kilogram per hectare 0-30 70-170 30-70 0-20 60-120 30-60 0-20 60-120 30-60 0-20 60-120 30-60, 0-20 60-120 30-60 0-20 60-120 30-60 0-30 60-120 30-60 0-30 70-170 30-70 0-30 60-120 30-60 0-30 60-120 30-60 0-20 60-120 30-60 0-30 70-120 30-70 0-30 60-130 20-60 0-30 60-90 30-60 0-30 40-50 20-40 0-30 60-100 30-60 0-30 70-170 30-70 High 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-20 0-30 0-20 0-30 0-30 Potassium (20) Deficient 30-90 20-50 20-50 20-50 20-50 20-50 40-120 30-30 40-120 40-120 20-50 30-30 30-95 30-30 20-50 40-100 330-90LU Lettuce, Head Leaf Melon Mustard Okra Onion, Bulb Green Patola Pea- Graden Pechay Pepper, Sweet Potato, Irish Radish Sitao, Bush Pole Squash Sweet Corn Sweet Potato Tomato Upo Watermelon 90-240 90-240 60-90 90-240 50-60 60-150 60-150 60-120 40-50 90-40 60-120 60-120 60-90 40-50 40-50 60-90 60-120 70-150 50-60 60-120 60-90 30-90 30-90 30-60 30-90 20-50 30-60 30-60 30-60 20-40 30-90 30-60 30-60 30-60 20-40 20-40 30-60 30-60 30-75 30-SO 30-60 30-60 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-20 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-20 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-20 0-20 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 50-60 50-60 75-170 60-210 50-60 40-50 40-50 70-170 60-120 50-60 60-130 75-190 70-170 60-120 60-120 75-170 60-120 75-150 60-130 75-170 75-170 20-50 20-50 30-75, 30-60 20-50 20-40 20-40 30-70 30-60 20-50 20-60 30-75 30-70 30-60 30-60 30-75 30-60 30-75 30-60 30-75 30-75 0-20 0-20 0-30 0-30 0-20 0-20 0-20 0-30 0-30 0-20 0-20 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 0-30 20-60 20-60 30-90 40-120 20-50 20-50 20-50 30-90 20-50 20-60 30-30 50-190 30-30 20-50 20-50 30-90 30-120 50-150 30-95 30-90 30-908T Table 2. Fertilizer recommendations for fruits an tree crops s based on n quick Soil Test Kit Crop i Nitrogen Phosphorus (P20s) - Potassium {K20) = _____Deficient_ “Low | Medium | High : | Med High oe ‘gre | per year ~ i ~ _ — __ “Abaca : 100-200 | 50-100 50-60 | 2050 | 0-2 Banana 75-150 | , | ‘Cacao tT Nonbearing 200-450 _ Bearing 300-750. | Coconut - 12yrod SS 34yrold | ~—«:100-170 += «50-100 0-50 "oye & up | 150335 | 60-150 | 0-60 | | 0-15 | 100-480 | i - “| 60200 | ‘Nonbearing 200-450 | 60-200 | 0-30 | 200-450 | 60-200 | 0-60 | 100-450 Bearing 300-750 60-300 0-60 200-450 60-200, 0-0 —_100-450 Lanzones, tyrold | 30-40 «| 1530 | O15 | O | O | 0 | 0 Ast yr bearing | 75-140 30-75 0-30 75-140 30-75 0-30 50-140 | 100-280 | 50-100 | 0-50 | 100-280 60-100 | 0-50 60-280Mangoes & other fruit trees sees tere Seedlings [O45 | ~~ Non bearing 40-7 0-40 “Bearing _—-, ~—-100-210 | 60-100 | 0-60 Papaya,at.——ts« 5-8 0-5 planting ales 2 J2mo.old | 15-20 | 10-15 0-10 ‘ISmo.&up | 30-40 20-30 0-20 Pineapple, 1 mo. 50-60 | 25-50 | 0-25 7 mo old 0-20" 30-40 50-70 _0-20 / "100-210 60-100 (0-60 0 oO B10 5B 30-40 20-30 50-60 | 20-50 | 50-60 0-25 | Omo.old 4555 20-85 ) : Rubber,1moold 50-65 |: 25-50 | 0-25 i 6moold | 50-65 25-50 0-25 Qmoold | 50-65 | | 0-25 12 mo old 50-65 25-50 0-25 18 mo old 65-125 | 30-65 0-30 24moold , —«65-125.—~—=S—«30-65 0-30 30moold _|_—-200-500 | 60-200 | 0-60 | 200-500 0-60 0-20 30-70 60-210 0 _20-65 20-65 20-65 30-125 30-125 100-5000z 7 Nitrogen Phosphorus (P20s) Potassium | (K20) | | Deficient _ "Mungo | Peanut — | Sorghum Soybean Sugarcane | Tobacco _ | Burley “20-40; 0-20 [Turkish 20-25 | 0-20 | 20-45 Virginia 20-25 | 0-20 30-60 | Cigar filter — “20-50 | 0-20 30-70 _ 20-50 0-20 30-701 “Table 4. Equivalent amount of fertilizer material in grams per plant (hill) per season based on the Soil Test Kit Crop Am palaya Beans, Lima Navy _ _Pole wing Brocolli Snap, Bush _ Ammonium Sulfate (21% N) Superphosphate (18% P20s) Nitrogen Phosphorus Low Medium High Low Medium High gram per plant per season 14,3-28 7.1-14.3 0-7,1 19.4-47 8.3-19 0,-8.3 14-19 10-14 0-1.0 255.0 | 11-25 | 0-4 19-29 1,0-1.9 0-1.0 39-78 17-39 | O17 1.9-3.8 6.7-13 | 33-67 | 0-33 _3.8-7.6 - 6 27-133 | 0-27 2.8-6.1 5.1 | (0-28 | Cabbage ; Carrot 43-128 10-12 | 0.2-04 76-12 | 2.89.0 | 143-29 | 7.1-14.3_ 0-28 | | Muriate of Potash (60% K,0 Potassium | Deficlentez i Garden "Pechay_ Pepper, § | Potato, trish “Radish | Sitao, Bush | Squash Sweet Corn _ | Sweet Potato _ | Tomato | Upo | Watermelon€@ | Table 5. Equivalent amounts of fertilizer material in grams per plant Crop T _ Ammonium Sulfate (21% Nu) Superphosphate (18% P205) Muriate of | po" Nitrogen | Phosphorus ~~ Potash (60% i K20) ! : | oe Potassium {low Medium | High Low Medium “High Deficient i oo _ Gram perplant | ~~ - - "Abaca ~ 476-952 | 238-476; 0-238 278-333. | «111-278 =i Bananas (357-762 | 190-357 0-190 | 278-333 | 111-278 = O-t11 83-200 Cacao Nonbearing 952-2143 286-952 0-286 1111-2500 | 333-1111. 0-333 ~=——«167-750 Coconut 1-2 yrold 238-405, “95-238 _34yrold | 476-610 | 238.476 0-238 167-600 ~~ Syr & up “1714-1595 286-714 0-286 | ~~ 167-800 Coffee Nonbearing | 952-2143 | 286-952 0-286 aE 7 Bearing | 1428-3571 | 286-1428 0-286 iz ~ Lanzones, fy lyrold | 143-190 | 7443 | om | _o | 0 : Istyr bearing | 357+ 667 | 143-357 | 0-143. 417-778 167-417 0-167 83-233 Bearing Mango &other i fruit trees ! | i “Seeding =| 443-190 | 71493, 0-71 | 167-222 | 8367083 _Nonbearing ———_-357-762__| 190-357 | _0-190 278-389, 111-278 0-111 50-117 556-1556 333-556 0-333 (100-667ve Bearing | 476-1000 | 286-476 , 0-286 =| 556-1167 | 333-556 0-333 10-350 Papaya, at planting 38-48 24-38 0-24 0 ° 0 0 312mo.oid | 72-95. | 7-72} BSG | 2B 0-28 17-50 15mo.&up 143-180 95-143, “095 167-222 111-167 O-111 50-100 238-326 119-238 | 0-119 278-333 | 139-278 0-139 83-250 Pineapple, 1 mo. bold a a _ i : 4mo old 214-262 95- 95 0 0 0 0 “7 mo old 238-286 119-238 0-119 =| 222.278 «| 111-222 O-114 83-250 10 mo. old 394-262 95.214 0-95, - 0 0 | Rubber, 1 mo old 238-310 yi9-238~C«9.| “) 439-278 - Gmoold 238-310 119-238 0-119 278-361 139-278 “—~“omoold ~~-«-238:310.~«=C«19-238 | ~=«O-119 «| «278361 | 139-278 —“G2moold =——~—=«238-310—~”~—«199-238 1S “278-361 «139-278 48m | 310-595 143-310 0-143 7) 361-694 | 167-361 "24 mo old 310-595 143-310 0-143 °° «| «361-694 «167-361 30 mo old 952-2381 | 286952 °—0-286 =| «111-2778 «333-1111 Le — aa - Sed 7 1 eles lle Divide grams per plant by weight of the fertilizer material in any of the common containers liste in Table 6 to get the no of the common containers chosen. Example: For abaca where nitrogen is low and if the lowest rate is to be applied: - . _ 476(fromTable $) _ 7 No of evap milk cans if ammonium sulfate = sear (rromrabies) 1.4 or 1% evap milk cans Rate of application is done every 3 monthsN a _Evaporated milk can Table 6. Approximate weights of fertilizer ‘materials using sor some common containers. | Container | Ammonium | Urea Solophos r Muriate of Ammophos Complete | (one unit) Sulfate t Potash 00 4600 0-1-0 _ Grams ~16-20-0 | 14-1 ~ heaping — “Talespoon, standard Teaspoon, Standard tablespoon, ordinary level i heaping teaspoon, rdinary level ; “heaping Condensed milk can9% _ _ regular (1/4 ii) i Nescafe diamond g | Ice cream cup smalle To convert this amount of pure CaCQ3 to actual liming material consult the accompanying handout entitled “Important Questions Often Asked About Soil Acidity and Liming” Particularly question 5 and 6. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OFTEN ASKED ABOUT SOIL ACIDITY AND LIMING 1. What is an acidic soil and how is the degree of soil acidity measured? Soil particles carry negative charges that hold or absorb positive ions of calcium, magnesium, potassium, hydrogen and aluminum. The first four have basic while the last two (hydrogen and aluminum) have the acidic reactions in the soil. When the concentrations of active hydrogen and aluminum become high the soil also becomes acidic. The degree of acidity is measured in terms of soil pH. Soil pH is easily determined in the laboratory using the pH meter on in the field using pH indicator dyes. A pH of 7 is neutral. The lower the pH (below 7), the more acidic the soil is. A soil with pH 4 is 10 29times more acidic than one with a pH of 6. Descriptive terms used for various pH ranges are presented below (Table 9). [Table 9: Terms used o describ “Medium acid Slightly acid _ Mery strongly Alkaline 2. What causes acid soil condition? a. Soil acidity develops slowly but gradually as rain water percolates through the soil carrying with it dissolved basic elements (calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium) below the root zone leaving behind hydrogen and aluminum. This called leaching. b. Growing plants remove the basic nutrient elements, calcium,magnesium and potassium, from the soil. The lost nutrients are replaced by acidic hydrogen and aluminum ions. 30 i>These also contribute to gradual acidification of soil. c. Heavy application ofacid forming nitrogenous fertilizer contributes to fast soil acidification of cultivated soil. The acidifying effect to each acid forming fertilizer expressed in “ equivalent acidity” are as follows: “Equivalent acidity” is the weight of calcium carbonate lime required to neutralize the soil acidity resulting from the use of 100 kg of the soil fertilizer material. For example, it takes 48kg of calcium carbonate lime to neutralize the acidity developed in the soil by applying 100 kg of urea. 3. How is crop growth and yield affected by increasing degree of soil acidity? Soil acidity can directly influence growth and yield of crop. Most crops prefer to grow at slightly alkaline soul conditions with pH values ranging from 6 to 8. See Table 11 for soil pH references of some agricultural crops. As pH drops, beyond this preferred pH range, crop yield also drops, declining increasingly sleepy as soil pH decreases further. 31Growth and yield decreases as soil acidity increases because some elements like active aluminum, iron and manganese may increase to toxic levels, calcium and magnesium may become deficient, availability of phosphorus and molybdenum are decreased while desirable soil microbial activities reduces. Such detrimental effects can restrict the root and for growth of plants. Table 11. pH preferen __Commonname | __pH preferences 1.Abaca | 6.0 - 7.0 2. Alfalf 6557.2 ome agricultural crops “4, Avocado (5.Banana 6. Beans (snap, lima, string) [7.Cabbage (6. Catan 9. Camote (Sweet potato) (11. Com (12. Cotton | 14. Cucumber 15. Eggplant 16. Garlic 32 a17. Ginger | 18. Grapes 19, Lanzones 20. Lettuce 21, Mango 22, Mungo 5.5-6.54, What is lime and what does lime do when applied to an acid soil? Lime is powered limestone rock containing calcium and/or magnesium. It is basic, that is, it can neutralizes activity or sourness of the soil. Lime application or liming corrects soil acidity, neutralizes toxic effects of excessive amounts of aluminum, iron and manganese, improves availability of some plant nutrients, particularly calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, promotes desirable microbiological activities and improves the physical conditions (structure) of the soil. Like fertilizer application, lime should be applied judiciously to safeguard against overliming. Overliming (applying lime that is more than necessary) especially of sandy soils low in organic matter, can reduce crop yield by markedly reducing the availabilities of several nutrient elements like potassium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, boron and copper 5. What can be used as liming material? The kind of liming material that one selects and buys is generally determined by (a) the need for magnesium, (b) availability and cost, (c) power 34neutralizing power and rate of reaction with the soil, and (d) handling and storage properties. The most common and cheapest kind of liming material in the market that one can use is ground calcic milestone containing calcium. If the soil is low or deficient in magnesium, dolomitic is quite expensive. The effectiveness of a liming material in correcting acidity is determined by its relative neutralizing power (RNP). Pure CaCO3 has RNP or calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) of 100. Other liming materials are compared on RNP basis with pure calcium carbonate. The RNP of a liming material depends on its chemical composition and the impurities contains, hence, can be known through chemical analysis. The RNP of some liming materials are as follows (Table 12). I |Table 12: Relative neutrlng power (RNP) fo for common ing De “Characteristics — | | Contains ‘calcium | a carbonate | ontains Ca and Mg 95 over 100 Dolomitic Limestone | Carbonate | cei I aioe = "Burned or quick ime “Fast acting but hard ‘t0/ 50-178 | | handle i Wood wash rh | 30-70 food wash | | 30-70 Ground sea shell upto.95 35Lime, to be effective, must be fine enough to be reactive with the soil. Coarse liming materials do not react readily and are ineffective in neutralizing soil acidity. In buying lime, therefore, one should also consider its fineness which is measured in terms of Effectivity Rating (ER). Effectivity rating as affected by the fineness (expressed in mesh size of sieve used) of liming materials is determined as follows (Table 13). lime passing es Oe If Liming material contains 60% of grade A, 30% of grade B and 10% of grade C, then the total effectivity rating is equal to 0.6 x 100 +0.03 x 60+ .1 x 20 or ER 220; 6. How much lime should be applied in the soil? To safeguard against overliming and maximize the benefits from liming, one should add lime only up to the optimum lime requirement (OLR) of the soil. OLR depends on the kind of soil (its original pH and 36buffering capacity) cost, availability and kind of lime, and yield expectation. Fine textured soils have higher buffering capacity and generally need more lime than coarse textured soils. Ways by which OLR is approximated include field experimentation and soil chemical analysis. One such chemical method of approximating OLR is the use of buffer solution which is adopted in the Soil Test Kit. Example on how to compute the amount of commercial or agricultural liming material needed to bring an acidic soil to a desired pH of 6-6.5 using the Soil Test Kit approach is as follows: Recommended amount x 10,000 of pure CaC03 LM = END x ER Where LM = amount of actual liming material RNP = Relative Neutralizing Power of the Liming material ER = Effectively Rating of the liming material 37Substituting, Amount of ground calcic limestone _ 4,5 tons per ha x 10,000 ~ 90 x 80 = 6.5 tons/ha The actual amount of ground calcic limestone (having RNP = 90 and ER = 80) is 6.25 tons per hectare. 7. How and when should lime be applied? For maximum effectiveness, lime should be thoroughly mixed with the soil. Lime is best applied by hand broadcasting or by mechanical spreader followed by the usual plowing and harrowing tillage operations during land preparations. Liming should be done only when necessary. The rule of thumb is that when the soil pH falls 5.5 and below, liming becomes necessary. The capacity of the soil to produce is greatly reduces\d if the PH falls below 5.5. 38