Dr. Elaine Ingham beküldte:
Reply to #9435
In our area we have sandy soil. If we get 1-3 mm rain the soil behaves like a "water repellent sandy soil": the water stays on the surface and evaporates without penetrating deeper. However when we get about 10-15 mm or more rain the soil behaves like a "non wetting sandy soil" and in about 4-5 days the upper 5-8 cm dries out. We try to grow grains, like triticale and sunflower. Last year we harvested 2 tons/ha wheat in average with 70 kg Nitrogen input. I think the biggest problem is the water.
My soil looks like this (except the color, mine is light brown not red):
www.grdc.com.au/Research-and-Development...-on-soil-constraints
What is your advise how can I achieve bigger yields?
How much organic matter is in the soil? How do you manage your residues? How rapidly do they decompose on the soil surface? Or do you till those residues into the soil? Once tilled in, how fast do they decompose?
Is there a compaction layer in your soil? Is it compaction at some depth in the soil horizon that is causing water to puddle at the soil surface? Or is the soil structure so collapsed that water cannot infiltrate into the soil any distance? Does a salt layer form at the surface of the soil? What time, or what part of the year does that occur? Do you irrigate?
For water to infiltrate into the soil, there needs to be openings on the soil surface that break the water tension of the water lying on the surface. Thus, poor infiltration of water means no soil structure.
So, I await your responses before proceeding further.
I would like to give additional information on behalf of Norbert, since I know a bit of his dirt.
His farm lies in the middle of the arid flatland of Hungary, with less than 3oo mm precipitation and prone to frequent drought. The upper 5o-6o cm of soil is pure sand, below one should find almost pure clay with saline tendency (salt steppe)
The dirt has minimum amount of organic matter caused by intensive agriculture and total deforestation. The sand behaves like it was treated with wax, few mm rain runs into solid droplets on the surface, a bit more water infiltrates adequately without puddle, however it will dry out very quickly.
The vegetation is scarce, decomposition is slow, soil biology should be assessed soon, however I do not expect any diversity following decades of worst chemical agriculture.
The first ideas were for the quick start to make a good compost and inoculate the seeds with compost tea, whatever cash-crop he would like to grow next year. Then accumulate as many residue he should on the surface to protect it from the sun creating a better micro climate and to feed the microorganism. It would be important to keep the roots intact and do not plow under the residues as it is an usual habit of the farmers.
He is in the progress to build a small scale direct drill based on my plans to reduce the movements on the land too.
Using this method I expect the increase of organic matter and microorganisms that should fix all of the problems.