The influence of lake sediments on the fertility of Cambisol
Voke Branch of the Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture, Žalioji aikštė 2, Trakų Vokė,LT-02232 Vilnius; e- mail: eugenija.baksiene@voke.lzi.lt
Abstract:
Lake sediments as a potential fertilizer were studied at the Voke Branch of the Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture during 1994–2004. The aim of the research was to establish the influence of lake sediments and their mixtures with other organic matter (manure, sewage) on the crop yield and soil agrochemical and physical properties; to compare the effect of sediments with that of a sediment-manure mixture.Experimental evidence suggests that lake sediments had no effect on soil acidity. Thehigher rate of sediments (100 t ha-1) increased the content of total nitrogen in the soil by 0.002–0.021 and humus by 0.53 percentage units. Application of lake sediments had a positive impact on the quality of physical properties of sandy loam Cambisol. Various rates of sediments increased the soil moisture content and porosity, and declined soil bulk density. The rate of lake sediments 50,100 t ha-1 increased the productivity of crop rotation by 8–30%, manure – by 21–25%. Fertilization with lake sediments at a rate of 100 t ha-1 and pure manure produced 25–30% of the yield of energy units per year.
Key words:
manure, properties, sediments, soil, yield