TITLE:
Fragipan Soil Changes with Growth of Annual Ryegrass and Festulolium with Surface Applied Amendments
AUTHORS:
Lloyd Murdock, Anastasios Karathanasis, Dottie Call, Dana Lee Dinnes, Amitava Chatterjee
KEYWORDS:
Fragipan Soil Horizons, Plant Root Restriction, Degradation of Compacted Sections, Effect of Ryegrass and Festulolium, Root Penetration, Effect of NaF, NaNO3, NaCl, KCl Surface Applied Amendments, Soybean-Ryegrass and Soybean-Festulolium Rotations
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Soil Science,
Vol.14 No.12,
December
26,
2024
ABSTRACT: A greenhouse experiment was conducted involving complete/intact 100 cm cores of a fragipan soil. The cores were maintained in moist conditions throughout the experiment as annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) or festulolium (Lolium spp and Fescue spp hybrid) were grown with and without additional surface applied amendments, including NaF, NaNO3, NaCl, and KCl. The results suggest a significant effect of annual ryegrass and festulolium on fragipan horizon degradation after 24 months. Annual ryegrass and festulolium were found to effectively change the structure of the fragipan horizon when planted on the soil surface and roots grew through the upper soil profile and penetrated into the fragipan. The fragipan structural change (degradation) appeared to increase with each planting sequence, particularly with soybean crop rotations. Sodium nitrate added to the soil surface with the growth of annual ryegrass resulted in a significant synergistic effect for degrading the fragipan horizon. The other amendments were not as effective in causing additional fragipan degradation.