TITLE:
Fragipan Horizon Changes Using Annual Ryegrass and Other Admendments
AUTHORS:
Lloyd Murdock, Anastasios Karathanasis, Dottie Call, Dana L. Dinnes, Amitava Chatterjee
KEYWORDS:
Fragipan, Fragipan Horizon, Fragipan Soils, Changing the Fragipan, Annual Ryegrass Changes Fragipan, Festulolium Changes Fragipan, Amendments That Change the Fragipan
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Soil Science,
Vol.14 No.6,
June
24,
2024
ABSTRACT: A greenhouse experiment was conducted involving intact fragipan soil cores of 50 cm thickness after removing the topsoil horizons. The cores were maintained in moist condition throughout the experiment and received several treatments with various amendments for different periods ranging from 9 to 17 months. The amendments included annual ryegrass or Festulolium residues, powder limestone and various humate compounds alone or in combination with the grass residues. The results suggested a significant effect of ryegrass and Festulolium in reducing penetration resistance into the top 10 cm of the fragipan within 9 - 17 months, particularly when used in combination with certain humate materials such as Leonardite. Apparently, this is the result of the release of certain soluble organic compounds from the plant residues or the humate amendments that increase the solubility of Si and Al associated with the fragipan brittleness, thus decreasing the density of the compacted fragipan material.