Improvement of a Solonetzic (Slick Spot) Soil by Deep Plowing, Subsoiling, and Amendments

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Soil improvement studies, including deep plowing, subsoiling and gypsum treatments, were conducted on an irrigated solonetzic soil association in southeastern Oregon. The unproductive saline-sodic (solonetz-like) soil tentatively classified as Malheur silt loam ( with slick spots ) and described as a Nadurargid, occurs in complexes with normally leached soils of the Nyssa and related soil series. The saline-sodic soils were chemically reclaimed in 3 to 4 years by deep plowing 90-cm deep without gypsum and by deep plowing with gypsum at rates of 18 metric tons/ha (8 tons/acre ) and 36 metric tons/ha (16 tons/acre). Crop yields, water intake rates, and water and root penetration were greatly increased by deep plowing. The soils were moderately improved by 36 metric tons/ha of gypsum alone and by subsoiling with gypsum. Subsoiling without gypsum was not beneficial. The results over a 4-year period indicate that the salt-affected soils were effectively and most economically reclaimed by deep plowing without gypsum. Deep plowing also improved the productivity and physical conditions of the nonsaline associated soils. <br> More than 55,000 hectares (135,000 acres) of irrigated land in the lower Malheur River Valley in southeastern Oregon and the Boise and Payette River Valleys in Idaho contain small areas of naturally occurring, unproductive, salt-affected soil. These peculiar areas of saline-sodic soil occur in complex patterns with normally leached soils and are commonly known as "slick spots." Affected areas range in size from only a few meters in diameter to IA ha, and may comprise from 10% to 50% of the land area in some cultivated fields. The slick spots seriously reduce crop yields and greatly complicate soil and water management.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - BOTANY: OTHER
Rasmussen, W.W. and Moore, D.P. and Alban, L.A. 1972. Improvement of a Solonetzic (Slick Spot) Soil By Deep Plowing, Subsoiling and Amendments. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings. 36(1):137-142.