Influence of different liming material on soil pH and spring barley yield under different soil moisture conditions

Abstract

Liming of acid soils is one of the most effective and multipurpose ways to improve soil properties. Liming changes the agrochemical properties, nutrient content and uptake. The aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of different liming materials on soil pH and spring barley yield under different soil moisture conditions. A vegetation experiment was performed until full yield formation under two different soil moisture conditions: optimum 17–20% and excess 28–31%. Liming materials of different physical forms and chemical composition were used in the experiment: ground, crushed and granulated liming materials, which differed in their chemical composition. Ground liming material had the highest neutralizing value (52.2 ± 0.40%) and reactivity (99.5 ± 0.18%), and crushed liming material had the lowest reactivity (10.0 ± 0.23%) and the highest (10.33 ± 0.148) magnesium content. Liming with ground liming material was the most effective and fastest way to neutralize soil acidity. It increased the soil pH from 4.44 ± 0.191 to 6.17 ± 0.042 under optimum moisture conditions and from 4.46 ± 0.156 to 6.76 ± 0.537 under excess moisture conditions after 4 weeks of liming. When spring barley was grown to full yield, a significant increase in yield in both years was found by liming with granulated liming material ø 2–5 mm in both soil moisture conditions, and the highest mass of 1,000th grain was obtained in the treatments limed with granulated liming material with potassium additive.