Open AccessEFFECT OF WATER ACIDITY ON THE LEACHING OF FERTILIZER COMPONENTS IN UMUAHIA AGRICULTURAL SOILS
Author(s) -
N. M. Mgbemena,
Felicia Uchechukwu Okwunodulu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
bulletin of the chemical society of nigeria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0795-2066
DOI - 10.46602/jcsn.v46i1.579
Subject(s) - leaching (pedology) , fertilizer , soil water , potassium , chemistry , soil ph , environmental science , nitrogen , organic matter , leaching model , agronomy , environmental chemistry , soil fertility , soil science , organic chemistry , biology
The South-Eastern Nigeria has heavy annual rainfall and at riskof leaching by acid rain hence there is a strong need to study the acidity of the leaching water from this zone as to determine it’s effect on the fertilizer components applied to the soil as soil and water pH affect nutrient retention. The study was therefore conducted to determine the effect of the acidity of water on the leaching of fertilizer components on application to agricultural soils in Umuahia one of the cities in the South-East. Agricultural soil was collected from Umudike in Umuahia and designated as Umuahia Agricultural Soil(UAS).The soil was characterized to determine texture, gravel, pH, organic matter and carbon, exchangeable acidity and cations, available phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium and percentage nitrogen using their various methods of analysis. The characterization was followed by the leaching tube experiments whereby the soil samples were leached with carbonated water of different pH levels ranging from pH of 4 to 6.5 and also with rainwater with pH of 6.8 using ten tubes five with fertilizer and five without fertilizer which served as the control experiment. The leachates were collected and analysed for the concentrations of sodium,potassium,calcium and the other ions . The results of the textural classification showed the soil as sandy-clay, and that of physicochemical analysis showed organic matter and carbon as 3.82 ± 0.13 and 2.21±0.00 % respectively, nitrogen as 0.26 ± 0.11 %. The leaching tube experiment showed sodium ions as 0.19 ± 0.11 me/100g, 0.19 ± 1.10 me/100g, 0.28± 1.02 me/100g, 0.29 ±0.11 me/100g and 0.38 ±0.12 me/100g at pH of 4, 5, 6, 6.5 and rain respectively for soils with fertilizer while that of potassium ions showed 3.76 ±0.02 me/100g, 3.61 0.02 me/100g, 3.54 0.02 me/100g at pH of 5, 6 and 6.5 respectively. The soils without fertilizer showed 0.09 ± 0.01 me/100g for both Na+ and K+ at the different pH levels. Soils with fertilizers leached more ions than the soils without fertilizers. From the results, it could be inferred that the leaching of fertilizer components in the soils differed with the influence of the acidity of leaching water. Therefore, fertilizer application should be based on the acidity level of the leaching water or rain.