This document discusses the management of calcareous soils. Calcareous soils contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3) which affects soil properties related to plant growth, both physically and chemically. Calcareous soils are formed through weathering of carbonate-rich parent materials in drier areas with low rainfall. They occupy over 30% of the earth's surface. Managing calcareous soils involves addressing issues like high buffering capacity, crusting, nutrient deficiencies, and low water holding capacity. Amendments like sulfur, iron sulfate, and lime sulfur can be used to convert CaCO3 to other forms. Nutrient and micronutrient management also plays an important role in managing calcareous soils. Field experiments

1. Management of Calcareous soils
Babanjeet
L-2021-H-85-D

2. CaCO3 + 2H+ Ca2+ + CO2 + H2O
Soils containing amounts of calcium carbonate
affect distinctly the soil properties related to
plant growth, whether they are physical, such
as soil–water relations and soil crusting, or
chemical such as the availability of plant
nutrients (Taalab et al 2019).
3 to > 15 %
CaCO3
7.6-8.3
pH
HCl
Effervesce
Introduction

3. Occurrence
Have often more than
15% CaCO3
Develop in regions of
low rainfall.
The soil spreads over 69.4%
(228.8 m ha) of the total
geographical area of India.
(FAO, 2021).
Occupying >30% of the
earth’s surface FAO, 2021

4. Reaction Effervescence class CaCo3 equivalent (%) Calcareousness class
Kalra and
Maynard
(1991)
Day (1983)
No reaction None 0 >5 Weakly calcareous
Few bubbles Very weak n. d. 5-15 Moderately calcareous
Bubbles readily
observed
Weak 1-5 15-25 Strongly calcareous
Bubbles form low
foam
Moderate 6-10 25-40 Very strongly calcareous
Bubbles form thick
foam
Strong >10 >40 Extremely calcareous
Soil reaction with 10% HCl effervescence class, CaCo3 equivalent and
calcareousness class
n.d.= not determined

5.  Formed form weathering of carbonate rich parent material like limestone,
Basalt, dolomite often found in drier areas.
 Develop in low-lying areas due to accumulation of calcium bicarbonate.
 Where precipitation is lower to leach out soluble salts, results in accumulation
of salts.
Formation of
calcareous soils

6. 1
2
3
4
5
High buffering capacity and
reduced rate of seed
germination
Surface crusting and activity of
rhizosphere micro-organisms is
reduced
Iron deficiency due to high CaCO3
leads to chlorosis also called lime
induced iron chlorosis
Flocculation due to enough
Ca and Mg
Problems due
to calcareous
soils
Decreased water holding
capacity (WHC)

7.  Mechanical methods:
 Deep ploughing and green manuring
 Application of organic manure
 Application of press mud compost 5 t/ha
 Soil testing
 Application of micronutrients
 Conversion: Chemical amendments are used
– Amendments
• Sulphur
• Iron sulphate
• Lime sulphur
 Nutrient management
Management of Calcareous soils
Ca2+
Ca2+

8. Sulphur
2S + 3O2 = 2SO3 (By action of sulphur oxidizing bacteria in soil)
SO3 + H2O = H2SO4
Na2CO3 + H2SO4 Na2SO4↓ + CO2↑ + H2O
CaCO3 + H2SO4 CO2↑ + H2O + CaSO4
Na Ca
Micelle + CaSO4 Micelle- + Na2SO4↓
Na Ca
2CaCO3 + H2SO4 CaSO4 + Ca(HCO3)2
Na Ca
Micelle + Ca(HCO3)2 Micelle- + 2Na(HCO3)2
Na Ca
Sulphur conversion

9. Iron Sulphate
FeSO4 + H2O H2SO4 + FeO
CaCO3 + H2SO4 CaSO4 + CO2 + H2O
Na Ca
Micelle + CaSO4 Micelle- + Na2SO4↓
Na Ca
Lime sulphur (CaS5)
Iron Sulphate
CaS5 + 8O2 + 4H2O CaSO4 + H2SO4

10. Use of
granular
forms, urease
inhibitors and
sulphur-
coated urea
Mixing the
urea with
KCl,
CaCl2 or
TSP
Fertilizer
through
irrigation or
mechanical
incorporation
N
Symbiotic
Nitrogen
fixation
Use of
ammonium
nitrate and
ammonium
chloride
Nitrogen
management
Singare et al 2022

11. Massive X presentation to DesignBall team 11
Massive X
b C
c
1
Band placement and
granular forms are
preferable
2
Maximum availability
is in the pH range of
6.0-7.5
3
Use of OM and PSB
and soluble sources
like SSP and DAP
Phosphorus management
Seeda et al 2020

12. Potassium
management
1:1 to
1:1.25
KNO3
Increase the N:K2O
fertilizer rate
If crop don’t respond to
soil application
Micronutrients Soil application Foliar application
Zinc Zinc Sulphate(25 kg ha-1) 0.5 % Zinc sulphate + 0.25 % lime
Iron Iron Sulphate(50kg ha-1) 1 % ferrous sulphate + 0.5 % lime
Copper Copper Sulphate(10kg ha-1) 0.1 % Copper sulphate + 0.05 % lime
Manganese Manganese Sulphate(10 kg ha-1) 1 % Manganese sulphate + 0.25 % lime
Boron Borax(10 kg ha-1) 0.2 % borax
General recommendations of micronutrient fertilizers (Samal and Kumar 2020)
Wahba et al 2019

13. 1
 10-year field experiment
 Soil properties in 2010 were as follows:
 Soil density 1.31 g/cm3
 Alkalized nitrogen 33.86 mg kg-1
 Available phosphorus 3.46 mg kg-1
 Organic matter 10.72 g kg-1
 pH 7.56
 Completely randomized design
 Four replicates
 Plot size : 500 m2
 Three treatments:
 Winter wheat–soybean rotation (SWR)
 Winter wheat–mung bean rotation (MWR)
 Continuous farmland fallow (Fallow)

14. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen contents in soil layers under various long-term rotation systems
Distribution of soil aggregates and Soil organic carbon in the 0–40 cm soil profile
Soil Depth (cm) Treatment SOC (g kg−1
) TN (g kg−1
)
0–20
Fallow 13.92 ± 0.63 c 1.15 ± 0.03 b
SWR 15.49 ± 0.38 b 1.43 ± 0.25 a
MWR 17.05 ± 0.12 a 1.32 ± 0.06 ab
20–30
Fallow 12.02 ± 0.15 a 0.81 ± 0.05 c
SWR 11.43 ± 0.21 c 0.92 ± 0.05 b
MWR 14.34 ± 0.14 a 1.09 ± 0.04 a
30–40
Fallow 13.88 ± 0.11 a 0.86 ± 0.01 a
SWR 9.29 ± 0.23 c 0.79 ± 0.01 c
MWR 11.79 ± 0.21 b 0.81 ± 0.02 b

15. 1 2
Legume–wheat rotation cropping enhanced the
proportion of the >2 mm soil fractions and reduced
the <0.053 mm silt + clay in the 0–40 cm soil profile.
3
Two legume–winter wheat rotations
enhanced the C and N sequestration
that varied with soil depths
Results
Yield increment Wheat (%)
SWR 26.73
MWR 27.38

16.  W60, W80 and W100 : irrigation at 60, 80 and 100% of crop
evapotranspiration
 M0, M1 and M3: residue (sugarbeet) quantities of 0, 2.4, 7.2
and 12.0 ton ha-1
Physio-chemical properties of Soil
2

17. Nutrient uptake of maize as affected by irrigation level and
mulching in 2018 and 2019 seasons

18. Overall conclusion
Residue @ 7.2 ha-1 and 80% crop
evapotranspiration considered
promising
Continuous application of compatible
irrigation regime and soil mulching have
potentiality to improve calcareous soil
properties
Due to irrigation and soil mulching
combinations, calcium carbonate
(CaCO3) reduced upto 17.13%
compared to the initial (CaCO3) was
in soil (25.42%)

19.  Approx. 21 kg of calcareous soil were sieved at 2 mm and put in each pot forming an
approximate 20 cm thick soil layer.
 Treatments:
Control Conventional fertilization (CF)
CF + MHPP CF + MHPP + NBPT
CF + NBPT CF + NBPT + BC
CF + BC CF + MHPP + BC
Where, MHPP is methyl 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate @ 1000 mg/kg ;
NBPT is N-(n-butyl), thio phosphoric triamide @ 2 % of applied urea

20. Nitrogen
fate balance
sheet
Dynamics of NH3 volatilization and N leaching

21. Phylogenetic trees of the partial ammonia oxidizing bacterial (AOB) amoA
gene sequences under different treatments

22.  Individual or co-application of MHPP, NBPT and BC significantly decreased N leaching by
25.4% to 42.6%.
 The treatments of MHPP, BC, MHPP+NBPT and MHPP+BC significantly increased the N yield
in the range of 7.41%–10.3% and the NUE in the range of 9.94%–13.7% compared with the CF
treatment.
 NBPT, MHPP and BC were found mainly in the targeted Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 and
Nitrosospira cluster 3b.
 In general the application of MHPP+NBPT is a promising strategy for simultaneously reducing
NH3 volatalization and increasing NUE.
Overall Result

23.  The study concerned with increase the
productivity of spinach by inoculation with
phosphate solubilization bacteria (PSB) in
calcareous sandy soil as soil drench.
 Bacillus megatherium
 Lysinibacillus boronitolerans
 Spinach var. Thessaloniki
 Split plot design
 Phosphorus was added as (0, 50 and 75%) with
biofertilizers.
Soil Physio-chemical properties
Soil property Values
Physical Soil Properties
Particle size distribution (%) Coarse sand 5.29
Fine sand 50.82
Silt 18.38
Clay 26.51
Soil texture class Sandy Clay Loam
Field capacity% 17.38
Wilting point% 7.55
Available water% Chemical Soil Properties 9.83
pH 7.87
EC dS/m 2.49
Organic matter (%) 0.89
CaCO3 (%) 28.61
CEC (Cmolkg-1) 10.88

24. 75% P with (L. boronitolerans + B. megatherium) recommended to release P in calcareous
sandy soils and increase crop productivity
Determination of organic acids by HPLC
Soil pH &Total P content (mgkg-1) by applying of PSB and
P fertilizer in the calcareous soil
Bacteria Organic acids Conc. (µg/ml)
Lysinibacillus boronitolerans
Formic acid 172.20 f
Lactic acid 351.64c
Acetic acid 522.74b
Citric acid 40.78g
Succinic acid 318.02d
Propionic acid 243.10e
Butyric Acid 664.66a
LSD (0.05) 3.2025
Bacillus megatherium
Formic acid 241.26d
Lactic acid 2097.98a
Acetic acid 911.66b
Citric acid 911.66b
Succinic acid 326.97c
Propionic acid 85.98e
Butyric Acid ND
LSD (0.05) 2.5159
Treatments pH Total P
100% NPK without (PSB) 7.53b
667.35a
P0
Without 7.87a
490.98ef
B. megatherium 7.22c
471.14f
L. boronitolerans 6.63e
463.32f
B. megatherium + L. boronitolerans 6.32f
462.75f
P50
Without 7.65b
568.61c
B. megatherium 7.02d
543.15d
L. boronitolerans 6.55e
530.32d
B. megatherium + L. boronitolerans 6.23f
510.71e
P75
Without 7.69b
605.50b
B. megatherium 6.99d
573.02c
L. boronitolerans 6.25f
553.50cd
B. megatherium + L. boronitolerans 6.01g
550.72cd
LSD (0.05) 0.033 1.32

25.  Soil properties
 pH: 7.85
 EC 1.64 mm hos/cm
 Pot experiment
 Humic acid and Ammonium molybdate @ 0.1, 0.5 and 1 g/L

26. Effect of HA and AM on soil properties
Organic
carbon
Soluble
salt

27. Soil properties:
 pH 8.33
 EC: 0.29 (ds m-1)
 CEC: 9.6 (cmol kg-1)
Two types of biochar
 Wheat and Corn residues
 Pyrolysis @ 250, 450 and 650o C
 For 2, 4 and 8h

28. Potassium concentration in experimental soil

29. Soil properties influenced by biochar treatment

30. Plant available element conc. influenced by Biochar treatments

31. Conclusion
All biochars increased soil CEC, ECe
and available K, P, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu
Biochars increased the amounts of
exchanagble and non exchangeable
K to 219-605 and 389-1090 mg kg-1
The wheat biochar had larger
effect on soil K than the corn
biochar.
Biochars produced at higher temperature had
larger effect on soil properties, P and K
availability, and smaller effect on Fe, Mn and
Zn availability.

32. Future prospectives
Choudhary O P 2017

33. Thank you for
attention !
“In soil management, we can find the roots of
sustainable progress.”