Composted chicken manure incorporated by trenching increased crop performance on sodic grey clay soil

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

9-2022

Conference Title

System Solutions for Complex Problems

Place of Publication

Toowoomba

Keywords

Amendments, Subsoil constraints, Soil management

Disciplines

Agricultural Science | Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Biochemistry | Climate | Environmental Engineering | Environmental Monitoring | Hydrology | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Organic Chemistry | Plant Biology | Soil Science | Water Resource Management

Abstract

Proceedings of the 20th Australian Agronomy Conference
Toowoomba, Queensland,18-22 September 2022.

Nutrients and fertility - contributed papers

Grey sodic duplex clays in WA are very difficult to manage and often under perform. These soils are very dense and hostile to root growth. An experiment was established (Ongerup) on this soil type in 2015. The site has been bulk sown and managed in a continuous cropping rotation. Treatments were three manure rates (0, 10, 20 t/ha), two gypsum rates (0, 3.5 t/ha) and with/without incorporation by trenching (0.9m spacing). The average crop yield response when manure was incorporated by trenching was 30-40% higher than the control treatment compared to 0-15% higher without trenching. Gypsum responses were limited to the faba beans in 2020 when manure was not applied. A boom-bust phenomenon occurred in several years where enhanced mid season crop performance (boom) associated with trenching and manure did not result in greater yields (bust). Yield increases were the result of improved biomass or stem/tiller numbers primarily driven by improved root exploration and water utilisation.

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