Sodicity and gypsum responsiveness in south-western WA
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
11-2018
Conference Title
National Soil Science Conference
Place of Publication
Bridgewater
ISBN
978-0-646-99723-0 (epubl)
Abstract
Proceedings of the National Soil Science Conference, Canberra, ACT, 18 to 23 November 2018.
Soil Science Society of Australia Inc.
Soils with strongly sodic subsoils, defined as having an exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) greater than 15 % cover almost 6 million of the WA wheat belt (van Gool pers. com). When exposed to rainfall, high levels of sodicity cause aggregates to disperse resulting in reduced water infiltration, drainage, aeration, crop emergence and root growth (Cochrane et al., 1994). The combination of impaired drainage and cyclical salt from rainfall has further resulted in the development of transient salinity (Barrett-Lennard et al., 2016). The management of sodic soils requires knowledge of how crops respond to sodicity, how sodicity and other soil properties effect dispersion and how to identify dispersive soils in order to tactically remediate them where gypsum or other amendments are required. This paper outlines the research being conducted in southern Western Australia to investigate these issues.
Recommended Citation
Hall, D.
(2018), Sodicity and gypsum responsiveness in south-western WA, National Soil Science Conference, Bridgewater, pp.445-446.
https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/conf_papers/273
