- Type of limeSlaked (Hydrate)
Why Use Aglime?
Aglime and Crop Production
Application of Aglime Helps Correct Nutrient Problems Caused by Soil Acidity
Aglime, properly used, contributes to higher crop production. It lowers the acidity (raises the pH) of the soil and minimizes the adverse effects of high concentrations of soluble aluminum, iron and manganese on crop growth, effects that are associated with acid soil conditions. Soluble aluminum aggravates soil acidity by causing the release of free hydrogen from soil clay and organic matter particle surfaces during hydrolysis.
Iron and aluminum, in the soluble state, both react with phosphorus to form insoluble aluminum and iron phosphates, a process that can seriously reduce the availability of this necessary plant nutrient to the crop. Reduced crop growth and yield and lowered fertilizer efficiency are the usual results. High soluble manganese levels, which are associated with acid soils, promote "luxury consumption" of elemental manganese and toxicity in manganese- sensitive crops such as cotton, potatoes and soybeans. Maintenance of the proper soil pH with the application of aglime will correct or prevent these low-pH related problems.
Maintenance of soil pH at agronomically acceptable levels with the regular application of aglime assures that soil calcium or magnesium depleted by leaching, erosion and/or crop removal will be returned to the soil. Regular application also promotes better overall availability of those nutrients essential for healthy crop growth, improves the ability of growing crops to utilize them, and increases the efficiency of high cost fertilizers. The availability of the various plant nutrients is affected somewhat differently by changes in soil pH (see Figure 3-1). Primary nutrients will increase in availability with an increase in pH to approximately 6.0-7.0, while the micronutrients, with the exception of molybdenum, decrease in availability. Agronomists generally agree that a soil pH of approximately 6.5-6.9 is optimum, as it provides "the best of all worlds" from the nutrient