Influence of flooding on electrochemical and chemical properties of West African soils

doi:10.1016/S0016-7061(98)00053-6

Geoderma

Volume 87, Issues 3–4, January 1999, Pages 179-207

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7061(98)00053-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

An understanding of the influence of flooding on electrochemical and chemical properties of soils provides insight needed in their management for rice production in West Africa. With this objective, the influence of flooding on electrochemical and chemical properties of 15 lowland soils from five rice producing countries in West Africa was studied. The soils were held under flooded conditions in greenhouse pots for 15 weeks. Soil pH and redox potential (Eh), and anoxic soil solutions drawn weekly were monitored for the changes with respect to major and micronutrients. The electrochemical properties of the soils and their solutions with time tended to stabilize in a narrow range. Soils widely differed in their capacities to release ammonium, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn and Zn in soil solution and thus provided useful information regarding the potential deficiencies of plant nutrients, and also, for the occurrence of Fe toxicity to lowland rice. Measurements made on the soil solution phase of the soils provided information for predicting the dynamic relationships among Eh, pH and Fe(II). The soil solution EC was closely related to the solution concentrations of K, Ca and Mg. The soils differed in the pattern and in the amounts of Fe released in soil solution and this information may be helpful in devising a strategy for the management of Fe toxicity to lowland rice.

Introduction

Rice ranks among the six major food crops of West Africa. Over the last decade the demand for rice has been increasing steadily and this demand has been met mainly through increasing imports. To counter this trend, West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) has been engaged with national programs and other international agencies in the sub-region for promoting increased indigenous production of rice. Rice in West Africa is produced in most diverse environments, which may be broadly grouped into uplands, inland swamps, irrigated humid, irrigated Sahelian and mangrove swamp environments.

Apart from a lack of water control that leads to flooding and drought in the same growing cycle, soil nutrient status is a major constraint to rice production in the sub-region. Rice growing in an upland soil faces a harsher growing environment in terms of nutrient status than rice growing in an inland swamp which provides free water on the surface of soil, not only alleviating water shortage, also, increasing the availability of key nutrients and eliminating Al and Mn toxicities.

For better management of soil, fertilizer and water regime for maximizing rice production in lowland ecology, it is important to understand the unique properties of flooded soils. In West Africa, a large land area under inland valleys, suitable for rice cultivation, remains unexploited (Andriesse and Fresco, 1991). This paper is an attempt to fill the research gap by way of characterizing the influence of flooding on the electrochemical and chemical properties of diverse wetland rice soils from five rice producing countries in West Africa.

Section snippets

Soils

Surface (0–15 cm) samples of rice growing soils were collected from 15 locations in five rice producing countries in West Africa. Information about the location, classification and physical and chemical characteristics of the soils is summarized in Table 1. Chemical properties of the 15 soils, relevant to the present study are summarized in Table 2. For the soil analyses, pH was measured by a glass electrode using soil to water or KCl solution ratio of 1:2.5. Particle-size analysis was made

Chemical properties of the soils

The 15 soils studied had a wide range in initial pH (4.3–7.7), organic C (7.4–46.0 g kg⁻¹), total N (500–3300 mg N kg⁻¹) and extractable plant nutrients (Table 1, Table 2). Generally, they were acidic in reaction and had a net negative charge at the natural soil reaction as indicated by the fall in pH between water and KCl solution. Soils 1, 6 and 15 recorded high exchangeable Al (>80 mg kg⁻¹ soil) and, when in use for upland rice production, they may cause Al toxicity and P deficiency, as

Conclusions

Overall, our study showed that flooding affects electrochemical and chemical processes which, in turn, affect soil fertility in a dynamic manner. The main electrochemical changes that affect soil fertility include a decrease in redox potential or Eh and changes in soil and solution pH. These changes are mainly controlled by organic matter and reducible-Fe contents of soils. The chemical changes influenced by flooding include the release of macro- and micronutrients which depend on soil

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Abdoulaye Adam, Biometrician for his assistance in the statistical analysis of the data and African Development Bank for financial support through a research fellowship to L.T. Narteh. We also thank the two referees for very helpful and critical comments.

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Influence of flooding on electrochemical and chemical properties of West African soils

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Soils

Chemical properties of the soils

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Agric. Ecosyst. Environ.

Geoderma

Geoderma

Adv. Agron.

Adv. Agron.

Evaluation of chemical methods for the determination of available phosphorus in waterlogged soils

Soil Sci.