Premium
Effect of Rice Culture on the Reclamation of Sodic Soils 1
Author(s) -
McNeal B. L.,
Pearson G. A.,
Hatcher J. T.,
Bower C. A.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1966.00021962005800020038x
Subject(s) - land reclamation , soil water , agronomy , hydraulic conductivity , environmental science , sodic soil , soil science , biology , ecology
Greenhouse and laboratory studies were undertaken to examine the effect of rice culture on the reclamation of sodic soils. Rice culture hastened the reclamation of coarse‐textured sodic soils, but did not improve the reclamation efficiency per unit of water leached through the soil. The beneficial effects on coarse‐textured soils were traced to a more rapid removal of entrapped air from the larger conducting pores of the soils during rice culture. After several weeks of rice growth on a mediumtextured soil, the reclamation efficiency per unit of water leached did begin to increase. However, the simultaneous increase in soil hydraulic conductivity suggested that the effect was caused by an increase in the percentage of the cross‐sectional area of the soil that was serviced by conducting pores, rater than by any enhanced solubility of CaCO 3 in the presence of CO 2 given off by the rice roots.