Soil Science Commons^™

Sub-Surface Drainage Methods For Salinity Control, P R. George

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sub-surface drainage can control waterlogging and salinity of arable land by removing excess groundwater.

There are two broad types of sub-surface drainage: interception drainage and relief drainage.

The cost of drainage will depend on the specific design for the site. For relief drains the prime determinate of cost will be the required spacing. In general, clay soils of low permeability or seepage areas will need narrower spacings and will be harder and more expensive to reclaim than sands or areas only needing drainage of local water.

Saltland Drainage : Case Studies, P R. George, R A. Nulsen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Over the past five years farmers have become increasingly interested in the use of drainage to overcome saltland problems.

Experimental work by the Department of Agriculture on sub-surface drainage includes tube drainage and drainage by pumping. The Department is also monitoring the performance of open drains installed by farmers. Major sites are at Esperance, Dalwallinu, Namban and Watheroo.

Some of these projects have been reported in an earlier issue of the Journal of Agriculture. In this article P. R. George, Research Officer and R. A. Nulsen, Principal Research Officer with the Salinity and Hydrology Research Branch, discuss recent results from …

Drainage To Control Waterlogging, D J. Mcfarlane, T R. Negus, J W. Cox

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Drains can be classified in several ways. Drains on flat land have similar drainage effects on either side of the drain and are called relief drains. Drains on sloping land intercept seepage water moving down hillsides and therefore have most effect on the downslope side. They are called interceptor drains.

Drains can also be classified as being open drains (that is, open at the ground surface) or buried drains (for example, tube drains).

Draining Irrigation Areas, K S. Cole, J P. Middlemas

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Many irrigation schemes throughout the world have turned into unproductive saline flats and swamps. This dramatic change can occur within a few years of irrigation starting and has been part of irrigation schemes from earliest times up to the present day.

The main cause of this salinisation is normally excess irrigation water use combined with poor drainage. Any form of waterlogging will have an adverse effect on plant growth.

Assessment Of Waterlogged Sites, D J. Mcfarlane

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Soil is said to be waterlogged if any part of the plant root zone is saturated with water. In severe cases soil is saturated to the surface and waterlogging is obvious. Waterlogging is distinguished from flooding in which surface runoff brings down water from higher up in a catchment. However, flooding may result in waterlogged sites.

Water Supplies : Dams And Roaded Catchments, W J. Burdass, T. R. Negus, A. L. Prout, I. A. F. Laing

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Western Australia's Upper and Lower Great Southern statistical areas include most of the broad-scale agricultural land south of a line from Perth to Hyden. Much of the area is well-developed and carries 13.4 million sheep, 203 00 cattle and 95 000 pigs, almost half the State's livestock.

There are few natural rivers and lakes to water livestock in summer and much of the bore water is salty. On-farm waterr conservation, therefore, consits mainly of excavated earth tanks (dams) which are filled by surface runoff or shallow seepage. In the drier areas and in the sandplain roaded catchments have neen built …

Drainage Prospects For Saline Wheatbelt Soils, P R. George

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sub-surface or groundwater drainage by buried tube drains or open ditches can reclaim saltland in the Western Australian wheatbelt. However, this method is expensive and not all sites can be drained cost-effectively. Each drainage site is unique, so careful investigation of each site is essential before recommendations on drainage method and design can be made.

Soil Acidity On High Rainfall Pastures, J S. Yeates, D. A. Mcghie, I. R. Wilson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Most soils of the high rainfall area of south-western Western Australia are naturally acis.

The most acid group of soils, the peaty sands. have been routinely limed before subterranean clover pastures were established since research in the 1950s showed that poor Rhizobium nodulation could be overcome with the application of about 2 tonnes per hectare of coastal limesand.

Soil Improvement With Bauxite Residues, W H. Tacey, S. C. Ward, K. J. Summers, N. J. Barrow

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The sandy soils of the Peel-Harvey catchment hold water and nutrients very poorly. The Gavin ridges dry out quickly during rainless periods and this severely limits pasture growth. These ridges and the lower lying Joel and Coolup sands also lose a large proportion of the phosphorus, sulfer and potash fertilisers applied to them. Normally the sands lack clay materials to bind and hold the nutrients so rainfall leaches them out.

The Peel-Harvey Study Group, CSIRO, Alcoa and Murdock University have studied the use of a residue from bauxite mining to help overcome these problems. The treated residue has a texture …

Soil Acidity And Legume Nodulation, J G. Howieson, M. A. Ewing

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Nitrogen is a basic constituent of protien and is essential to all forms of life. Many agricultural plants are legumes - a group of plants which, in co-operation with specialised soil bacteria, fix their own nitrogen from the air. When the legume dies, the organic matter breaks down anf the nitrogen becomes available to the following crops.

Soil acidity is a major factor limitimg the successful association between legumes and their beneficial soil bacteria in Western Australia.

Breeding Wheat Varieties For Acid Soils, I R. Barclay

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Wheat varieties with improved tolerance of acid soils cold increase yeilds be perhaps 20 per cent or more over a substantialarea ofWestern Australia's eastern wheatbelt.

Aluminium toxicity is probably the main cause of poor root growth and therefore reduced yields on these soils.

Sources Of Lime In The South-West, I M V Brown

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Many Western Australian farmers topdress or incorporate lime into their acid soils to neutralise them and to improve crop or pasture yields. Most use pulverised limestone or limesand which is cheap and relatively easy tospread.

Agricultural lime isdefined as "any fertiliser used principally for the purpose of reducing soil acidity and having calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, or both, as its main ingredients".

Less extensive sources of liming material are found in scattered inland areas where deposits of calcrete have been formed by the weathering of calcium-rich rock and also in association with internal drainage systems.

Magnesite, generally formed by …

Soil Acidity In The Eastern Wheatbelt, W M. Porter, I. R. Wilson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In Western Australia parts of the sandplain of the eastern wheatbelt are very acid and produce poor crops, It was not until the late 1970s that the effect of soil acidity on the productivity of the sandplain soils was examined in any detail.

Since then researchers have learnt a great deal about the nature of soil acidity in the eastern wheatbelt sandplain soils and can suggest management options for farmers.

This article discisses the problem of the very acid soils. It does not deal with the moderately acid, medium textured soils of the eastern wheatbelt. Although the acidity of these …

Causes Of Soil Acidity, W M. Porter

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The introduction of agriculture into australia has caused many of our soils to become more acid faster than they would have otherwise.

In Europe and other parts of the world, soil acidification is accepted as a normal by-product of a successful agricultural system. Lime* is widley used to neutralise the acids added as a result of agricultural practices.

In Western Australia, lime applications will be needed more frequently in the future, although maybe not in the same volumes as in Europe.

Soil Types And Drainage, Eric Bettenay, N. J. Schofield

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

At least 90 per cent of the phosphorus entering the Peel-Harvey estuarine system comes from land cleared for agriculture, most of it from the coastal plain. These soils are naturally deficient on phosphorus and sulfur and this is supplied in superphosphate, which contains about 10 per cent phosphorus and 1 percent sulphur.

However, rain leaches some of this applied phosphorus from the land into drains and rivers which flow into the estuary. In 1981, farmers in the Harvey River-Mayfields Drain catchment lost the equivalent of 1,300 tonnes of superphosphate into the estuary. Between them they have in effect spent $120,000 …

Soil Acidity And Liming In The Lower Great Southern, R N. Glencross, M. G. Clarke

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In the 375 to 750 millimetre rainfall area of the Lower Great Southern, reports of loss of subterranean clover from established pastures, reduced carrying capacity for sheep and increasing soil acidity lead to the establishment in 1981 of a research programme into the effects of soil acidity on pasture productivity in that region.

The Soil Phosphorus Store, G S P Ritchie, D. M. Weaver

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The management of the soil phosphorus store, or 'super bank' to minimise phosphorus leaching losses is a vital part of any strategy to reduce algal pollution of the Peel-Harvey estuary.

Phosphorus can exist in the soil in four main 'pools'. it may occur in the soil solution or in one of the three pools that contain phosphorus in solid forms. This phosphorus can be in compounds (fertilisers, dead plant material); adsorbed (attached) to soil particles such as organic matter, clay and iron oxide; or as constituents of micro-organisms.

Alternative Pasture Species For Deep Sands, D A. Nicholas

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Although the climate of the swan coastal plain between Perth and Bunbury is suitable for growing a range of pasture species, some soil types greatly limit this range.

Pasture species commonly grown in the South-West, such as subteranean clover and annual ryegrass, can only be grown successfully on the better soils of the coastal plain - the loams, yellow sands and Joel sands. On the freely drained, deep, infertile Gavin sands such species rarely persist because of the soil's poor water holding capacity, and its water repellency and its poor ability to retain nutrients.

Soil Testing For Acidity, I R. Wilson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

One of the most important aspects of the soil acidity research programme is the accurate analysis of soil and plant materials.

A soil acidity problem cannot be simply diagnosed with one test. Although the soil pH test is used for the initial evaluation of soil acidity, it does not measure the other factors which affect plant growth as a result of this acidity.

For example, plant growth on a coastal soil with pH 4.3 (in water) may not be affected by applying lime, but growth may improve markedly on a central wheatbelt soil of pH 4,8 (in water).

Another two …

The Effects On Plant Growth, W M. Porter, J. S. Yeates

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The level of acidity of a soil reflects its chemical and sometimes its biological condition. Changes in acidity mean changes in the availability to plants of some soil elements, and modifications to the biological processes in the soil.

Some elements become more available to plants in acis soils, and in some soils particular elements can reach toxic levels. Other elements can be effected in the opposite way: deficiencies can develop in acid conditions.

It is important to realise, however, that the chemical nature of all soils varies. Beccause of these variations, acidity can affect each soil differently and thus influence …

Molybdenum Deficiency In The Wheatbelt, M M. Riley

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The trace element molybdenum is needed in very small amounts in nitrogen metabolisms of crops and pastures. One of the projects that started as a result of the overall soil acidity research programme was the examination of molybdenum deficiency on acid soils throughout the South-West of Western Australia.

Barley Production And Soil Acidity, P J. Dolling, W. M. Porter

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

One of the causes of reduced plant yields on acid soils is aluminium toxicity. because barley is extremely sensitive to this mineral, a project started last year to examine the influence of soil acidity on barley production in the main barley growing areas of Western Australia.

This article discusses some of the background information on the project and its aims.

Modifying Fertiliser Practices, J S. Yeates, D. M. Deeley, M. F. Clarke, D. Allen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

If modified fertiliser practices are adopted phosphorus losses from the Peel-Harvey catchment can be reduced. Farmers can save money on fertiliser applications and the need for more expensive catchment management measures to reduce algal pollution of the estuary will be avoided.

Research data available so far indicate that, with farmer co-operation and the use of the new slow release fertiliser New Coastal Superphosphate, long-term phosphorus application rates can be reduced by 30-40 per cent - and possibly even halved - without lowering agricultural production. This will also reduce phosphorus loss to drainage water.

Although much of the research since 1982 …

Treating Saltland, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

No abstract provided.

Managing Water-Repellent Soils, D A. Mcghie

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A study of water-repellent soils has led to some management recommendations.

There's Little To Choose Between Scarifier Points, C R. Lester

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Tests on scarifier points showed that methods of treating them to prolong their life had little effect.

Soil And Plant Analysis : A Guide To Fertilizer Usage, Walter Jacob Cox

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Soil and plant analysis can be used to identify problems in soils, diagnose nutrient deficiencies and as a guide to fertiliser usage.

Soil testing is particularily useful where large amounts of phosphorus and potassium are leached or removed from the paddock in hay or silage.

Actual rates of fertiliser can only be recommended from soil testing and only in conjunction with additional biological and economic information.

Effects Of Surface Drainage On Dryland Salinity, P R. George, T. R. Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Areas which are salt-affected are often also flooded. Although flooding is not the basic cause of salinity, surface drainage may improve conditions for plant growth, and this article describes suitable methods

Potassium Deficiency In Lupins : Identification, Rates, Times And Method Of Application, Walter Jacob Cox

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Large areas of sandplain soils north of Perth are low in potassium levels, and responses to applied potassium have been large for both sub. clover and grain lupins.

This article indicates where potassium might be needed, and how to diagnose and overcome deficiencies in lupins.

Landform, Natural Drainage And Salinity, Eric Bettenay

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

An understanding of salt movement in streams and groundwater may lead to better methods of control and prevention of salinity.