Testing Soil for Micronutrients

Leggett, Glen E. (1968) Testing Soil for Micronutrients. pp. 15-24. In: Proc. 19th Ann. Pac. NW Fert. Conf. USA-OR-Salem, 1968/07/16-18.

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Abstract

Soil testing for micronutrients is increasing throughout the United States.
Many commercial fertilizer companies include these tests as a regular part of
their service.

For any valid soil test there are four main features that need careful
consideration. First, the sample must represent the area sampled and must have
been treated in such a manner as to avoid contamination or drastic change in the
status of the nutrient under consideration. Second, the conditions for extracting
the nutrient must be such that the amount extracted is related to the available
nutrient supply. Third, the nutrient in the extract must be determined quantitatively
and fourth, interpretation of the results must be based on reliable calibration
data. In addition to these criteria, before a soil test is accepted and used
widely, it must be reduced to a routine operation at moderate cost.

Detailed discussions of the chemistry of the micronutrients in the soil are
given by Mitchell (19) and Hodgson (14). Comprehensive discussions dealing with
various aspects of soil testing are available in a recent monograph (11) which
includes a discussion by Viets (34) on soil testing for the micronutrient cations.
Many of the wet chemistry procedures (3) for determining the micronutrients are
time consuming and require highly trained personnel for accurate analysis. The
advent of atomic absorption spectrophotometry, however, has eliminated many of the
analytical problems and offers straightforward procedures that are free from
interferences and may be used routinely.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number:	0135
Subjects:	Soil > Chemistry Soil Research methodology Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	07 Mar 2008 19:01
Last Modified:	10 Mar 2017 23:35
Item ID:	966
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/966