Brendan Scott

Soil phosphorus–crop response calibration relationships and criteria for winter cereal crops grown in Australia

Abstract. Soil testing is the most widely used tool to predict the need for fertiliser phosphorus (P) application to crops. This study examined factors affecting critical soil P concentrations and confidence intervals for wheat and barley grown in Australian soils by interrogating validated data from 1777 wheat and 150 barley field treatment series now held in the BFDC National Database. To narrow confidence intervals associated with estimated critical P concentrations, filters for yield, crop stress, or low pH were applied. Once treatment series with low yield (<1 t/ha), severe crop stress, or pHCaCl2 <4.3 were screened out, critical concentrations were relatively insensitive to wheat yield (>1 t/ha). There was a clear increase in critical P concentration from early trials when full tillage was common compared with those conducted in 1995–2011, which corresponds to a period of rapid shift towards adoption of minimum tillage. For wheat, critical Colwell-P concentrations associated with 90 or 95% of maximum yield varied among Australian Soil Classification (ASC) Orders and Sub-orders: Calcarosol, Chromosol, Kandosol, Sodosol, Tenosol and Vertosol. Soil type, based on ASC Orders and Sub-orders, produced critical Colwell-P concentrations at 90% of maximum relative yield from 15 mg/kg (Grey Vertosol) to 47 mg/kg (Supracalcic Calcarosols), with other soils having values in the range 19–27 mg/kg. Distinctive differences in critical P concentrations were evident among Sub-orders of Calcarosols, Chromosols, Sodosols, Tenosols, and Vertosols, possibly due to differences in soil properties related to P sorption. However, insufficient data were available to develop a relationship between P buffering index (PBI) and critical P concentration. In general, there was no evidence that critical concentrations for barley would be different from those for wheat on the same soils. Significant knowledge gaps to fill to improve the relevance and reliability of soil P testing for winter cereals were: lack of data for oats; the paucity of treatment series reflecting current cropping practices, especially minimum tillage; and inadequate metadata on soil texture, pH, growing season rainfall, gravel content, and PBI. The critical concentrations determined illustrate the importance of recent experimental data and of soil type, but also provide examples of interrogation pathways into the BFDC National Database to extract locally relevant critical P concentrations for guiding P fertiliser decision-making in wheat and barley.

Differential tolerance of high manganese among rapeseed genotypes

Cultivation of crop cultivars resistant to high soil manganese (Mn) may reduce the negative effects of Mn toxicity on crop yield. Three studies were carried out to select Brassica genotypes (B. napus and B. rapa) resistant to high Mn concentration and to characterise the nature of any Mn resistance found. In Experiment 1, 33 B. napus and nine B. rapa genotypes were screened in a sub-irrigated nutrient solution system. Based on visual symptoms and plant size, single plants were identified with resistance to high Mn from within cultivars of four B. napus and one B. rapa. Resistance was also identified in one B. napus doubled haploid genotype. In Experiment 2, a genotype resistant to high Mn and two genotypes (progenies from Experiment 1) sensitive to high Mn were exposed to eight Mn concentrations (9–500 μM) for 2 weeks in nutrient solution. The relative shoot weight (RSW) and the relative root weight (RRW) of the genotype resistant to Mn were significantly greater at ≥100 μM Mn than both genotypes sensitive to high Mn; the sensitive genotypes reacted similarly. The three genotypes had similar tissue Mn contents and the elevated Mn tissue contents did not induce deficiencies of Mg or Fe. In Experiment 3, 12 genotypes (progenies from Experiment 1) were screened in nutrient solution at 9 μM Mn and with an additional 125 μM Mn. The RRW and RSW of the genotypes ranged from 35 to 114 and 39 to 94%, respectively. All the selections sensitive to high Mn had a RSW <60% and thus were confirmed to be Mn sensitive, while all the selections resistant to Mn had a RSW >70% and thus were confirmed as Mn resistant. This evidence confirmed the availability of rapeseed germplasm resistant to Mn toxicity with an ability to withstand high content of Mn through internal tissue tolerance. Also, the observed Mn tolerance in this material is genetically controlled and not an artifact of our screening assays.

Soil phosphorus tests I: What soil phosphorus pools and processes do they measure?

Abstract. The phosphorus (P) status of 535 surface soils from all states of Australia was assessed using the following soil P tests: Colwell-P (0.5 m NaHCO3), Olsen-P (0.5 m NaHCO3), BSES-P (0.005 m H2SO4), and Mehlich 3-P (0.2 m CH3COOH + 0.25 m NH4NO3 + 0.015 m NH4F + 0.013 m HNO3 + 0.001 m EDTA). Results were correlated with soil P assays selected to estimate the following: soil solution P concentration (i.e. 0.01 m CaCl2 extractable P; Colwell-P/P buffer index); rate of P supply to the soil solution (i.e. P released to FeO-impregnated filter paper); sorbed P (i.e. Colwell-P); mineral P (i.e. fertiliser reaction products and/or soil P minerals estimated as BSES-P minus Colwell-P); the diffusive supply of P (i.e. P diffusing through a thin gel film, DGT-P); and P buffer capacity (i.e. single-point P buffer index corrected for Colwell-P, PBICol). Across all soils, Colwell-P and BSES-P were highly correlated with FeO-P (r = 0.76 and 0.58, respectively). Colwell-P was moderately correlated with mineral P (r = 0.24), but not solution P. Olsen-P and Mehlich-P were both highly correlated with FeO-P (r = 0.80 and 0.78, respectively) but, in contrast to Colwell-P and BSES-P, also showed moderate correlations with soil solution P (r = 0.29 and 0.34, respectively) and diffusive P supply (r = 0.31 and 0.49, respectively). Correlation coefficients with mineral P were r = 0.29 for Olsen-P and r = 0.17 for Mehlich-P. Soils were categorised according to their pH, clay activity ratio, content of mineral P and CaCO3 content, and the relationships between the empirical soil P tests examined for each soil category. Olsen-P and Colwell-P were correlated across all soil categories (r range 0.66–0.90), and a widely applicable linear equation was obtained for converting one soil test to the other. However, the correlations between other soil tests varied markedly between soil categories and it was not possible to develop such widely applicable conversion equations. Multiple step-up linear regressions were used to identify the key soil properties affecting soil solution P, P buffer capacity, and diffusive P supply, respectively. For all soil categories, solution P concentration (measured by CaCl2-P) increased as rate of P supply (measured as FeO-P) increased and P buffer capacity decreased. As an assay of sorbed P, Colwell-P alone did not significantly (P > 0.05) explain any of the variability in soil solution P, but when used in the index (Colwell-P/P buffer index), it was highly correlated (r = 0.74) with CaCl2-P. Soil P buffer capacity was dependent on different properties in different soil categories, with 45–65% of the variation in PBI accounted for by various combinations of Mehlich-Al, Mehlich-Fe, total organic C, clay content, clay activity ratio, and CaCO3 content, depending on soil category. The diffusive supply of P was primarily determined by rate of P supply (measured as FeO-P; r range 0.34–0.49), with significant (P < 0.05) small improvements due to the inclusion of PBICol and/or clay content, depending on soil category. For these surface soil samples, key properties of pH, clay activity ratio, clay content, and P buffer capacity varied so widely within individual Australian Soil Orders that soil classification was not useful for inferring intrinsic surface soil P properties such as P buffer capacity or the relationships between soil P tests.

Soil phosphorus tests II: A comparison of soil test–crop response relationships for different soil tests and wheat

Abstract. The performance of a wide range of soil phosphorus (P) testing methods that included established (Colwell-P, Olsen-P, BSES-P, and CaCl2-P) and more recently introduced methods (DGT-P and Mehlich 3-P) was evaluated on 164 archived soil samples corresponding to P fertiliser response experiments with wheat (Triticum aestivum) conducted in south-eastern Australia between 1968 and 2008. Soil test calibration relationships were developed for relative grain yield v. soil test using (i) all soils, (ii) Calcarosols, and (iii) all ‘soils other than Calcarosols’. Colwell-P and DGT-P calibration relationships were also derived for Calcarosols and Vertosols containing measureable CaCO3. The effect of soil P buffer capacity (measured as the single-point P buffer index corrected for Colwell-P, PBICol) on critical Colwell-P values was assessed by segregating field sites based on their PBICol class: very very low (15–35), very low (36–70), low (71–140), and moderate (141–280). All soil P tests, except Mehlich 3-P, showed moderate correlations with relative grain yield (R-value ≥0.43, P < 0.001) and DGT-P exhibited the largest R-value (0.55). Where soil test calibrations were derived for Calcarosols, Colwell-P had the smallest R-value (0.36), whereas DGT-P had an R-value of 0.66. For ‘soils other than Calcarosols’, R-values >0.45 decreased in the order: DGT-P (r = 0.55), Colwell-P (r = 0.49), CaCl2-P (r = 0.48), and BSES-P (r = 0.46). These results support the potential of DGT-P as a predictive soil P test, but indicate that Mehlich 3-P has little predictive use in these soils. Colwell-P had tighter critical confidence intervals than any other soil test for all calibrations except for soils classified as Calcarosols. Critical Colwell-P values, and confidence intervals, for the very very low, very low, and low P buffer capacity categories were within the range of other published data that indicate critical Colwell-P value increases as PBICol increases. Colwell-P is the current benchmark soil P test used in Australia and for the field trials in this study. With the exception of Calcarosols, no alternative soil P testing method was shown to provide a statistically superior prediction of response by wheat. Although having slightly lower R-values (i.e. <0.1 difference) for some calibration relationships, Colwell-P yielded tighter confidence intervals than did any of the other soil tests. The apparent advantage of DGT-P over Colwell-P on soils classified as Calcarosols was not due to the effects of calcium carbonate content of the analysed surface soils.

Effect of soil acidity and liming on lucerne and following crops in central-western New South Wales

On some of the lighter textured soils in the wheatbelt of central-western New South Wales near Dubbo, soil acidity is a major problem, and lucerne (Medicago sativa) often establishes and grows poorly. We selected a site with a surface soil pHCa of 4.4 and an exchangeable aluminium of 0.4 cmol(+)/kg, which was also acidic down the soil profile. Experimental plots of 4 application rates of lime (nil, 1, 2 and 3 t/ha) in 4 replications were established. The site was limed in 1990 and lucerne sown in May 1991. Over the next 6 years the trial was periodically grazed with sheep, and lucerne regrowth and stand density were monitored. In October 1997, the lucerne was removed and 3 crops of varying acid tolerance (wheat, barley and canola) were sown as split plots in both 1998 and 1999. Lucerne density was higher in the limed plots compared with the unlimed treatment, and this difference persisted for 6 years. Dry matter production of lucerne was increased by lime applied at rates up to 2 t/ha. All 3 crops sown after the lucerne phase responded to lime applied 8 and/or 9 years earlier. The responses were attributed to the strong residual effect of the lime in the 0–10 cm soil layer, to smaller improvements in the 10–20 cm zone (possibly due to the movement of lime down the soil profile over the 7 years before the date of measurement) and to carry over effects of nitrogen fixation by the lucerne into the cropping phase. The protein content of the wheat grain was increased concurrently with grain yield due to the previous liming and resultant legume nitrogen effects. The results support the application of lime to improve the productivity of lucerne and subsequent crops, even when the soil is acidic to depths below the cultivation layer.

Seedling validation of acid soil tolerance of lucerne populations selected in solution culture high in aluminium

This study tested the hypothesis that lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) populations selected in solution culture high in aluminium (Al) would increase seedling root growth when grown in an acid soil high in exchangeable Al. Root growth of six elite populations (Aurora C2, UQL-1 C2, T02-011 C1, T02-011 C2, A513 C3 and Sardi 7 C2) selected in high-Al solution culture (SHASC) was compared with that of corresponding parent as well as the Georgia acid soil-tolerant populations in an acid soil in pots grown for 8 days under controlled environmental conditions. Lime was added to the soil to provide contrasts in the severity of stress imposed by low pH and high Al. Averaged across six SHASC populations, total root length increased 19% at pH 4.34 in CaCl2 (35% exchangeable Al) and 26% at pH 5.26 (<1% exchangeable Al) compared with the control populations. At all pH levels SHASC populations showed increased tap root length, total root length (includes lateral roots), root weight and root surface area, but decreased average root diameter compared with the six control populations. A large amount of variability was observed both between and within lucerne populations with three SHASC populations (Aurora C2, UQL-1 C2 and Sardi 7 C2) exhibiting increased root growth at lower pH levels, but little increase in root length at higher pH, consistent with increased tolerance to Al toxicity. This was in contrast to three other SHASC populations (T02-011 C1, T02-011 C2 and A513 C3), which exhibited increased root length at all pH levels, consistent with increased seedling vigour. The Sardi 7 C2 population exhibited the greatest increase in tap root growth with tap root length increasing by 40 and 30% at pH 4.34 and 4.48, respectively, compared with its parent population Sardi 7. This study provides evidence that seedlings of lucerne populations selected in high-Al solution culture can confer significantly improved root and shoot growth in acid soil. It is recommended that such screening be incorporated into lucerne breeding programs to reduce costs in space and time.

Novel barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) germplasm resistant to acidic soil

Improving the resistance of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) to acidic soils is an important goal of several barley breeding programs around the world. The identification and utilisation of novel barley sources resistant to aluminium (Al) may provide a significant and rapid advance towards that goal. Barley standards and screening protocols for selecting barley germplasm resistant to Al in nutrient solution and acidic soil were reevaluated. The assays used were quantitative in nature and were suitable for genotypic- and seedling-based selections. Although there was a broad agreement between the solution culture assays and soil assays in the ranking of genotypes it obscured the fact that misclassification of genotypes is common. Brindabella was shown to be better suited than Dayton (the current barley standard resistant to Al) as the Australian standard for resistance to acidic soils. A seedling-based Al pulse-recovery assay and an acidic soil assay were used to characterise 41 genotypes from the South and East Asian Barley Core Collection (SEA-BCC). In addition, in the acidic soil assays several standard barley and wheat genotypes were included. Three SEA-BCC genotypes were more resistant than Dayton to acidic soil while several others were similar to Dayton. The most resistant SEA-BCC genotypes Honen, Ohichi and Zairai Tanbo were of Japanese origin. Misclassification of barley genotypes and wheat genotypes for resistance to soil acidity between solution culture and acid soil assay provided strong evidence for the unsuitability of solution culture assay. Although in solution culture several barley genotypes were sensitive relative to wheat, in acidic soil they were not different from wheat. While the quest for resistant barley to acidic soils similar or better than resistant wheat still continues, it may be an unnecessary endeavour.

Surface soil acidity and fertility in the central-western wheatbelt of New South Wales

Documentation of the chemical fertility status of the soils is sparse for the western and central-western wheatbelt of New South Wales, Australia. We examined properties of the surface soils (0–10 cm) from central-western NSW by collating two published and nine unpublished datasets of soil analyses representing about 2800 soil samples. The emphasis was on the red soils used extensively for cropping. The surface soils of central-western NSW have low phosphorus (47% of soils) and sulfur (70% of soils <5 mg S/kg using KCl-40 analysis) status and commonly have organic carbon contents of about 1%. Surface soil acidity was a substantial problem with 56% of soils (0–10 cm) having a pHCa <5.0. Sodic and dispersive soils are also of concern in this area and these soils have received little attention or research. Approximately 5% of surface (0–10 cm) soils had an exchangeable sodium percentage of ≥6% (sodic). Salinity of surface soils was of minor significance compared with other soil problems in the area, although isolated areas occur. These results indicated that lime applications in this area are likely to benefit crop and pasture production. Additional use of phosphorus and sulfur fertilisers and agricultural practices which increase or maintain organic carbon will also need to be adopted to improve pasture and crop production. The use of gypsum and/or lime on sodic soils may also need to be addressed. As a priority, we suggest that the benefits of lime application to crop yield be examined. The application of lime to the 0–10 cm soil depth should ultimately arrest acidification of the subsurface soil (10–20 cm depth) through downward movement of the lime effect. Further examination of gypsum applications to dispersive sodic soils and the evaluation of sulfur deficiency in the field for pastures and canola are also priority areas of likely agricultural relevance.

Poor incorporation of lime limits grain yield response in wheat

Thorough mixing of lime with the soil is a standard recommendation for lime application. However, the implements and passes that may be used to achieve this in Australian cereal farming are unclear. Therefore, 2 experiments were conducted to examine the incorporation of lime applied at 0, 2 and 5 t/ha using a range of different agricultural implements and numbers of cultivation events. Shoot dry matter and grain yield of wheat were measured in the year of lime application in both experiments. The plots were resown to wheat in the following season by direct drilling, and measurements were repeated. In a dry season, high soil disturbance (rotary hoe and disc harrow) improved the response of wheat to lime in the first year of experiment 1. In experiment 2, rainfall was higher, and the advantage from thorough incorporation was less clear. However, the rank order of incorporation methods and lime responsiveness was positively correlated with that in experiment 1 for both dry matter and grain yield; thorough incorporation tended to give better responses to lime than ‘poor’ incorporation (light harrowing). In the second year of experiment 1 there was limited evidence of the influence of incorporation method on lime response. In the second season of both experiments the effects of incorporation method on lime response had dissipated or other effects were more important. We found that to maximise grain yield responses to lime, the most effective incorporation was achieved with a disc harrow or with multiple passes with a tined implement (scarifier). Incorporation limited to a light harrow was inadequate. However, any effects of method of incorporation reduced or disappeared in the following season, even when direct drilling was used and there was limited further soil disturbance.

Variability of acidity in agricultural soils—the impact of timber burning at land clearing

Patchiness in the growth of barrel medic, Medicago truncatula, in the central west of New South Wales, near Condobolin, has been associated with variability of soil acidity. There is evidence of the effect of timber burning on soil properties and it is possible that such burning of timber stacks and windrows on land recently cleared for agriculture may add alkali and contribute to such pasture growth. Of the three sites used, two were already in a 20-year farming system and one was constructed in a recently cleared paddock. Soil sampled at the 0–0.10, 0.10–0.20, and 0.20–0.30 m soil depths indicated significant increases in soil pHCa and extractable Ca to a soil depth of at least 0.20 m for up to 20 years after timber had been burnt. The effect of the timber burn on soil chemistry was due to the conversion of alkali oxides to either hydroxides or carbonates. This addition of alkali moved relatively rapidly through the soil profile in a low-rainfall farming system. Additional alkali was found in the soil, mainly at the 0–0.10 m depth, in the form of free lime. Using assumed rates of soil acidification, the burn effect could persist for up to 1227 years before reverting to the pre-burn soil pH. It was also found that timber burning at the sites contributed to the spatial variability of soil acidity.