Availability Of Boron In Soil Research Articles

Effectivity of borate micro fertilizer on yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Boron (B) is one of the most essential nutrients for fertilization and the production of fruits and seeds, however the availability of boron in soil is very limited. The aim for this experiment is to test the borate micro fertilizer to improve the growth and production of cucumber (Cucumis sativus). The fertilizer used in this experiment is borate micro fertilizer which contain 46% or 460 g.kg-1 B2O3. The experiment was conducted at Cibadak Village, Sukaresmi District, Cianjur Regency, West Java Province. Treatments in this experiment were arranged within five rates of fertilizer, which are: without fertilizer (P0); 0.5 rate of Borate fertilizer (0.5 B) (P1); 1.0 rate of Borate fertilizer (1.0 B) (P2); 1.5 rate of Borate fertilizer (1.5 B) (P3); and 2.0 rate of Borate fertilizer (2.0 B) (P4). The result showed that the treatment of 0.5 to 2.0 rate of borate micro fertilizer can produce growth characteristics and plants that are better compared to the control treatment. Applicating 0.5 rate of borate micro fertilizer even has the capacity of yielding production up to 48.960 kg.ha-1. The 0.5 rate of Borate micro fertilizer treatment was concluded as the most effective one compared to other treatments, due to its capacity to produce the highest relative agronomical effectivity value, which is 152%. The recommended rate of Borate fertilizer is 25 kg.ha-1 given by soil drench at 15 and 30 DAP (days after planting) with the concentration is 1.5 g.L-1 and the volume is 250 ml/plant.

The role of monodentate tetrahedral borate complexes in boric acid binding to a soil organic matter analogue

Boron is an essential plant micronutrient responsible for several important functions. Boron availability in soils may be influenced by binding with soil organic matter (SOM), particularly with aromatic diol and polyphenol groups on SOM. The mechanism by which aromatic diols bind boron, however, remains unclear. The objective of this work is to further investigate interaction between boric acid and varying concentrations of an aromatic, polyphenolic SOM analogue (tannic acid at 5, 10 and 20 g L−1) from pH = 5–9. UV/Visible spectroscopy showed boric acid enhanced tannic acid deprotonation at pH = 7.0 and 9.0, resulting in singly deprotonated tannic acid subunits. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) showed boric acid/tannic acid binding for all concentrations at pH = 7 and 9, whereas binding at pH = 5.0 was observed only at 20 g L−1 tannic acid. Uncomplexed boron species were not evident at pH = 9.0, but were detectable at pH = 7.0 at lower tannic acid concentrations and prevalent at pH = 5.0, qualitatively indicating binding affinity increases from pH = 5.0 to 9.0. ATR-FTIR results indicated tetrahedral coordination of boron upon complexation to tannic acid with a monodentate mechanism. These results collectively highlight a transition of solution planar boric acid to a tetrahedral, monodentate coordination with a single phenol group in tannic acid polyphenols. This contrasts with previous spectroscopic studies, which indicated bidentate tetrahedral or monodentate trigonal planar orientations prevail at aromatic diol sites. This work presents a previously unobserved boric acid coordination mechanism to an SOM analogue and, therefore, may better inform prediction and modeling of boron behavior in soils.

Boron fertilization improves quality and yield of maize (Zea mays L.)

Boron deficiency drastically affects the yield and quality of many crops especially maize. The low availability of boron in soils is one of the major causes of poor quality and low yield of maize in Pakistan. A wirehouse experiment was carried out at Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad to optimize the dose of boron to increase quality and yield of maize. Two recommended local maize hybrids Monsanto-919 and Monsanto-5219 were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with factorial arrangements. The Boron was applied as borax @ 0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5 kg ha¯¹ at tasseling stage. Although both hybrids showed non-significant differences in yield attributes exogenous boron supply @ 0.6 kg boron ha¯¹ increased grain yield by 27% as compared to control treatment in both the hybrids. It increased grain oil, protein and starch contents by 10%, 12% and 16% respectively.

Boron availability in soils and its nutrition of crops under long-term fertility experiments in India

Using 12 long-term (of 15 to 42 years duration) experiments with different cropping systems under various soils and agro-climatic conditions, we studied how different (inorganic and integrated) nutrient management practices influenced boron (B) availability in soils, and its nutrition of nine crops. To this end, four nutrient management practices viz., NPK (recommended dose of N, P and K), NPK + FYM (farmyard manure), control and fallow, which were common in all the experiments, were selected and their effects on B availability in soils were tested using four commonly used methods viz., hot-CaCl2 (HCC), KH2PO4 (PDP), mannitol-CaCl2 (MCC) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) in relation to B nutrition of wheat, rice, cowpea, sorghum, sesame, mustard, groundnut, soybean and lentil. Amounts of B extracted by the four different methods followed the order HCC = HCl > MCC > PDP across the tested soils. Averaged over the extractants, long-term nutrient management practices with NPK + FYM resulted in 15% increases in available B in soil over the control, which produced 20% increase in plant tissue B concentration. Such increases with integrated (NPK + FYM) nutrient management practices maintained available B in soils and plant tissues above its critical limits that supplied adequate amounts of B for nutrition of all the tested crops grown intensively for so many years. A B balance study in six experimental sites showed a net B accumulation over time as irrigation water contained and supplied (130–296 g B ha−1 year−1) more B than removed by harvested crops. Of the four methods used, HCC was the best for assessment of availability of B in soils under long-term cultivation.

Available Boron in Calcareous Soils of Lebanon1

AbstractHeretofore, virtually no information was available on the B status of Lebanese soils and its implication for plant growth. In this study, boron availability in soils of the major agricultural areas of Lebanon was measured and the B content of crops growing on these soils was determined. A total of 33 crops was sampled. Though the 162 soil samples varied widely in chemical and physical properties, only pH was significantly and negatively related to available B. However, a significant relationship was found between available B and the B content of most crops. A marked regional variation in available B contents was noted. The data indicate that B availability in Lebanese soils is adequate and that no toxicity occurs.