EFFECT OF SOIL POLLUTION ON ALFALFA YIELD AND ELEMENT COMPOSITION

• Published in: Cereal research communications Vol. 37; pp. 601 - 604
• Main Authors: KÁDÁR, Imre, RÉKÁSI, Márk, RAGÁLYI, Péter, FILEP, Tibor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Akadémiai Kiadó 01-01-2009
• Subjects: Agricultural site preparation; Agricultural soils; Agrology; Alfalfa; Calcareous soils; Ecology and Economy; Plants; Soil pollution; Soil toxicity; Soil treatment; Soil water balance
• ISSN: 0133-3720; 1788-9170

A long-term field experiment on microelement contamination was set up in spring of 1991 on a calcareous chernozem soil. Salts of 13 microelements (AlCl3, NaAsO2, BaCl2, CdSO4, K2CrO4, CuSO4, HgCl2, (NH4)6Mo7O24, NiSO4, Pb(NO3)2, Na2SeO3, SrSO4, ZnSO4) were applied in four levels: 0, 90, 270 and 810 kg·ha-1. In this paper the results of the 13thyear of the experiment are discussed. The main conclusions of the 13th year of the experiment are the following: The contamination after 13 years of the beginning of the experiment is still detectable in the NH4-acetate+EDTA soluble element fraction of soil though the concentration values decreased significantly compared to the values measured in the first year of the experiment. The stress caused by the As, Se, and the highest Cr loads induced a moderate depression in the air-dry yield. The highest toxicity was observed in the highest Cd-treatment where almost the total yield have been destroyed. The higher As and already the smaller Cd load resulted in a yield that was not suitable for animal feeding.