USE OF BLENDS OF SILICATE AGROMINERALS AS A K SOURCE FOR SOYBEAN CROPS

This study aimed to test the efficiency of blends of silicate agrominerals as K sources for soybean crops. The experiment was conducted in the surroundings of Embrapa Cerrados, Planaltina – DF (TN: city in the Midwest, Brazil), in two field areas with similar climate conditions and different soil types: a medium texture soil and a clay soil. The experiment was carried out in 6 random blocks, with the following treatments: syenite and biotite schist (silicate rocks), and potassium chloride (conventional fertilizer), in doses of 0 kg, 60 kg, 120 kg, 240 kg, and 480 kg of K2O ha-1. The soil was prepared and the treatments on each plot were manually ...

Increased yield and CO2 sequestration potential with the C4 cereal Sorghum bicolor cultivated in basaltic rock dust-amended agricultural soil

Mike E. Kelland, Peter W. Wade, Amy L. Lewis, Lyla L. Taylor, Binoy Sarkar, M. Grace Andrews, Mark R. Lomas, T. E. Anne Cotton, Simon J. Kemp, Rachael H. James, Christopher R. Pearce, Sue E. Hartley, Mark E. Hodson, Jonathan R. Leake, Steven A. Banwart, David J. Beerling Abstract Land-based enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a biogeochemical carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy aiming to accelerate natural geological processes of carbon sequestration through application of crushed silicate rocks, such as basalt, to croplands and forested landscapes. However, the efficacy of the approach when undertaken with basalt, and its potential co-benefits ...

Applications of Diabase Rock Dust in Brixlegg Forest

Foresters are applying lime in the Austrian forests against acid rain. They know that lime is too alkaline and destroys the humus because it destroys the acid-alkaline balance. Lime destroys the nitrogen compounds in the humus and it leaches nitrogen into the water which is a pollutant. Measurements show that with acid rain comes about 40, 50, 60 kilos of nitrogen per hectare.

Pot Test Trial II of Basalt, Serpentine, Bentonite, Feldspar, and Kaolin

This is a report on the second set of pot test trials run by Dr. Gernot Graefe at the Gartnerhof in Ganserndorf Sud near Vienna.

Remineralization Trials: Minplus and Bananas A Cost Benefit Study

Banana Growers Kevin and Gary Harding have been trialing rock dust from Pin Gin Hill quarry since mid-1985. Using experience gained from these trials they radically altered their fertilizer applications, and in August 1990 planted out a 4 Hectare block using Minplus rock dust as the main fertilizer.

Effect of Silicate Rock Dust in Forests: Result of the Experiments in the Forest of Arenberg-Schleiden after Five Years

The advantage of rock dust is that it is a natural, raw material, and carrier of numerous minerals and trace elements with long term effect. The nutrients are released slowly and gently during the process of natural weathering in the forest ecosystem (without fertilization shock). In the following, we report the latest results of the experiments in the forest of Arenberg-Schleiden.

Soil Improvement: The Step Beyond Men of the Trees Remineralization Trials

Western Australia is semi-arid, with annual rainfall on the same order as Africa’s Sahel. Our soils are ancient many millions of years old. Ages of weathering and leaching, and a few decades of farming with soluble NPK fertilizers, have left them impoverished. Today, despite the greatest care, each year large tracts of land are lost to salt and wind erosion. Shelterbelts of trees are indispensable allies in an effort to reverse this loss of farmland, and to anchor a regeneration of the soil. Significant forest cover can eventually stabilize the local climate, too. The Western Australia chapter of Men of the Trees is dedicated to this task.

Efficacy, sustainability and diffusion potential of rock dust for soil remediation in Chontales, Nicaragua

To produce enough food for a growing population, soil remediation is crucial unless more forests are to be cleared to make way for agriculture land. Finely ground rocks have been proposed as a soil amendment for highly weathered soils. In Chontales, Nicaragua most of the forest has been converted to cattle pasture. In fertile soils, crop agriculture is more lucrative per unit of area than cattle grazing, but the low nutrient content of Chontales soils makes it uneconomic. The purpose of the study was to examine whether incorporation of rock dust is a sustainable way to increase the fertility in Chontales and thus can be part of a strategy that ...

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ROCK DUST ON THE PERFORMANCE OF TWO TYPES OF SWEET CASSAVA

The effect of rock dust on agronomic performance was evaluated using two varieties of sweet cassava. The study was conducted at Embrapa Cerrados in Planaltina, Federal District. Four sources of potassium were tested, and the soluble fertiliser KCl, representing the full conventional treatment. A randomised block experimental design with three repetitions was used. Agronomic evaluations were made at twelve months after planting. The means of the Japonesinha variety fertilised with the types of rock dust tested were found to be greater than the means from the other treatments, including the variety treated by conventional fertiliser. This fact shows ...