Evaluation of the modified olsen extracting reagent for Copper, Zinc and Manganese

Abstract

Abstract The Modified Olsen (MO) extracting reagent is used extensively as a soil test extractant in Latin America. Little correlation or calibration research hasbeenreportedonit, however, especially for the micronutrients. wheat, corn, and soybeans were grown successively in the greenhouse to evaluate Cu, Zn, and Mn, respectively. Lime and micronutrient variables (one micronutrient per crop) were imposed on six soils representing four orders. After each cropping the soils were extracted with MO and with three other extracting reagents for which there are referenced critical levels: Mehlich‐1 (Ml), Mehlich‐3 (M3) and Soltanpour‐Schwab (SS). The correlations between nutrient uptake and the concentrations extracted were fairly similar for the four solutions, but were better for Mn and Zn than Cu. The poor relationship for Cu occurred partly because a maximum wheat concentration of about 10 mg/kg was reached, creating a curvilinear function. The amounts of nutrients extracted by the four reagents were also w...