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Cottage cheese (acid) whey effects on sodic soil aggregate stability

Lehrsch, G.A. and Robbins, C.W. and Hansen, C.L. (1994) Cottage cheese (acid) whey effects on sodic soil aggregate stability. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation. 8:19-31.

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Abstract

Whey applications reduce a sodic soil's exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and
sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and increase its infiltration rate. Whey's effects on
aggregate stability (AS), however, have been less well documented. A greenhouse
study was conducted to determine: ( 1 ) AS response to whey additions, (2) the profile
depth to which surface-applied whey affected AS, and (3) the relationship between AS
and SAR for an illitic soil. Greenhouse lysimeters packed with a Freedom silt loam
(Xerollic Calciorthid) received either 0, 25, 50, or 100 mm of whey (equivalent to 0,
253, 505, and 1010 Mg ha-1 of liquid whey). After drying, the surface 150 mm was
removed, mixed, and replaced. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L. `Ludd') was then planted
and grown to maturity by irrigating weekly. After harvest, AS was measured by wet
sieving. A companion field study was conducted to determine the effects of whey
applications and flood irrigations on AS. In Declo silt loam (Xerollic Calciorthid), 2
x 2 m basins received 0, 25, 50, or 100 mm of whey, followed by 100, 75, 50, or 0 mm
of water, respectively. One week later, each basin was cultivated (to z = 100 mm) and
smoothed. After four 150-mm irrigations, AS was measured on the 0- to 10-, 10- to 50-,
and 50- to 150-mm depth increments. Greenhouse results indicated that AS increased
significantly with whey additions, though only in the tilled 0- to 150-mm depth increment.
Over two ranges, AS increased linearly with SAR decreases resulting from whey
applications. In the upper 50 mm of soil in the field basins, AS also increased linearly
from 33 to 75% with whey additions up to 50 mm. Cottage cheese whey improved the
AS of sodic soil horizons into which it was incorporated.

Item Type: Article
NWISRL Publication Number: 0835
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: 28 Nov 2016 19:11
Item ID: 616
URI: https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/616