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Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Soil Acidity and its Distribution in Laterite Soils of Northern Kerala: A Descriptive Analysis

M. M. Sreelakshmi, B. Aparna, Rani B.

International Journal of Environment and Climate Change · pp. 1158–1166 · Published 29 Dec 2022

10.9734/ijecc/2022/v12i121554

Abstract

Soil acidity is one of the major constraints of crop production in tropical soils. A study was conducted to examine different forms of soil acidity, contribution of each fraction to total acidity  and distribution of exchangeable Al+3, exchangeable H+ detrital laterite rice wetlands of Kerala. Among the series, the Kalikkadavu series reported the highest exchangeable acidity with a mean of 1.66 ± 0.23 meq/100g at a depth of 0-15 cm. Soils from Angadipuram series showed high values for exchangeable hydrogen with a mean of 0.71 ± 0.87 meq/100g and a range of 0.2- 3 meq/100g. Kalikkadavu series reported a high value for exchangeable hydrogen with a mean value of 1.29 ± 0.23 meq/100 g. Regarding potential acidity, Nanminda series reported the highest with a mean value of 40.2 meq/100g. Descriptive statistics of pH dependent acidity data revealed highest acidity for Nanminda series in surface layer with a mean value of 39.27 ± 1.77 meq/100g while in subsurface soils, Arathil series has reported the highest with a mean value of 32.21 ± 3.28 meq/100g. From the paired t-test analysis, significant variations of potential acidity and pH-dependent acidity were observed across surface and subsurface while exchangeable acidity, exchangeable Al+3, exchangeable H+ have shown non-significant variation.Hence, we recommend a proper soil management system that lowers the surface and subsoil acidity in low-pH soil. Again, for best effects in terms of biomass production and economic crop yields, amelioration of soil acidity should be followed by optimum plant nutrient inputs.

Exchangeable acidity exchangeable aluminium exchangeable hydrogen potential acidity pH dependent acidity

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