Effect of liquid humus and calcium sulphate on soil aggregation

Abstract

An Ultic Haploxeralf soil collected from ridges built into the slopes of the Coastal Mountain Range of Central Chile was used in applications of humic and fulvic acids (HFA) extracted from sludge from sewage treatment plants, in combination with gypsum (CaSO4). A total of 12 treatments were applied by combining four doses of HFA (0, 20, 30 and 40 t ha-1) with three doses of gypsum (0, 1.2 and 6.0 t ha-1). The effect of these treatments was assessed using three indicators of the degree of soil aggregation: macroporosity (MA), bulk density (Da) and microinfiltration (MI). The experiment was set up in a laboratory using a completely randomised design (CRD). Factorial variance analysis was also performed using two factors: gypsum in three doses and HFA in four doses. For all three indicators, MA, Db and MI, it can be seen that there is interaction between the HFA treatments and the gypsum treatments in the studied soil. The macroporosity increased with HFA treatments with 20 or 30 t ha-1 (9%) and with gypsum of 1.2 t ha-1 plus 20 t ha-1 HFA (11%). It can also be seen that the gypsum treatments have no effect on Db when HFA is not applied. Microinfiltration is the variable that shows the greatest effects from the treatments applied. The results also clearly show that high amounts of HFA (40 t ha-1) and of gypsum (6.0 t ha-1) cancel out the differential effects and cause negative effects on the three indicators for the studied soils. The use of liquid humus and its combination with calcium sulphate (20/1.2 t ha-1) improves soil aggregation.