Effects of acidic cottage cheese whey on chemical and physical properties of a sodic soil

Robbins, C.W. and Lehrsch, G.A. (1992) Effects of acidic cottage cheese whey on chemical and physical properties of a sodic soil. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation. 6:127-134.

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Abstract

Sodic soil reclamation requires replacing exchangeable Na+ with Ca2+
and leaching the excess Na+ from the soil. Cottage cheese whey has an electrical
conductivity (EC) of 6-10 dS m-1, pH values of 4.2 or less, low sodium adsorption
ratios (SAR), and contains 40-50 g kg-1 of readily decomposable organic matter.
These whey characteristics should all be beneficial in reclaiming sodic soils. This
study was conducted to determine the effects of cottage cheese whey on the chemical
and physical properties of a sodic soil (SAR = 16.3, EC = 3.8, and pH 8.3).
Cottage cheese whey was applied to 300-mm-deep sodic soil columns at 0-, 20-, 40-,
and 80-mm rates followed by 80, 60, 40, and 0 mm of distilled water, respectively.
The columns were then incubated at 10°C for 21 days, and then leached until 96 mm
(0.60 pore volumes) of leachate was collected. All whey applications lowered the soil
pH, SAR, and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) in both the upper and lower
150-mm-depth increments. Aggregate stability in the surface 150-mm-depth increment
increased from 11 % in the water-leached soil to 22% in the 80-mm whey-treated
soil. The results of this study suggest that cottage cheese whey can be used as
an effective sodic soil amendment.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0763
Subjects:	Soil > Amendments > Whey Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:53
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2016 17:23
Item ID:	571
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/571