ALBERT

Notes: The effects of major water management practices on the pumping requirement from the Ogallala aquifer are discussed. Demand on the aquifer may be reduced as much as 15 percent by recycling irrigation runoff, 25 percent by recycling irrigation runoff and irrigating with water from playas, and 29 percent by recycling irrigation water in combination with irrigation from playas and artificial recharge of playa water to the aquifer. Other practices that can result in more efficient use of precipitation and groundwater are limited irrigation, land forming, soil profile modification, and improved irrigation systems, thereby reducing the pumping demand on the Ogallala. Additional water supplies can possibly be obtained by water harvesting, weather modification, and water importation. Conclusions reached were that the overdraft on the aquifer can be reduced by the application of sound water management practices on an area-wide basis.

Notes: Non-exchangeable K always contributes to some degree to plant nutrition. To understand this contribution and to deduce a predictive buffer power model the release and fixation of K was studied on a range of 44 calcareous clay soils. Short-term K sorption and desorption experiments (16 h) were followed by the measurement of soil exchangeable K (ammonium acetate extraction). Soil K-Ca exchange properties and the contributions of exchangeable K and non-exchangeable K to K dynamics of the soil-solution system were estimated. The change in the amount of non-exchangeable K during the experiment was generally proportional to the initial constraint imposed to the soil-solution system (ø), i.e. the solution: soil ratio multiplied by the difference between the solution K concentration imposed at the beginning of the experiment and the solution K concentration for which neither sorption nor desorption of K would occur. The proportionality coefficient (β) called the 'soil ability for K release and fixation’ was identical for release and fixation for 36 soils, whereas eight soils showed some difference between their ability for fixation and their ability for release of K. When β was considered identical in the release range and in the fixation range for all soils it was inversely proportional to the initial K saturation ratio of the CEC corrected for the amount of ammonium extractable K which was not in exchange equilibrium with Ca. This quantity of ammonium extractable K which is not in equilibrium with Ca probably contributes only partially to plant nutrition. For the studied soils this quantity contributed a large proportion of exchangeable K (26–65%) especially in soils with a small K content. Due to the contribution of non-exchangeable K to soil-solution K dynamics the buffer power of the system does not only depend on exchange properties but also on soil release and fixation properties. When β was taken into account buffer power was better estimated than when it was deduced from ion exchange alone.

Notes: The Ca concentration of the soil solution influences K plant nutrition by its influence on K concentration of the soil solution and on soil buffer power through ion exchange and K release or fixation. The effects of the imposed solution Ca concentration on the estimates of these parameters and on these two phenomena were studied on a loamy soil. Potassium sorption and desorption experiments were conducted for 16 h at five initial Ca concentrations (from 0 to 10−1 M) and followed by the measurement of soil exchangeable K (ammonium acetate extraction). Soil K-Ca exchange properties and the contributions of exchangeable K and non-exchangeable K to K dynamics of the soil-solution system were estimated. The‘Ratio Law’ applied for the medium range of Ca concentrations, i.e. 10−1 M to 10−3 M. But, it failed for some experiments at small initial Ca concentrations (0 M and 10−4 M). This failure went with a decrease of the number of sites of great affinity for K in K-Ca ion exchange and/or a decrease of the amount of K not in exchange equilibrium with Ca but extracted by M ammonium acetate. Release of K increased and fixation of K decreased when Ca concentration increased. The relation between the change in the amount of non-exchangeable K during the experiment and the initial constraint (ø) was curvilinear on the large range of ø investigated. But, this relation was independent of Ca concentration. The K concentration of the solution for which neither sorption of K by the soil nor desorption of K from the soil occurred decreased and the slope of the sorption-desorption curve at this K concentration increased when the solution Ca concentration decreased. These two parameters can be considered the K concentration of the soil solution of the soil and the buffer power of the soil, respectively, only if the initial Ca concentration imposed during the sorption-desorption experiments is close to the Ca concentration of the soil solution of the soil. A predictive model of the soil buffer power based on ion exchange and release-fixation properties is proposed. Despite some discrepancies at very low Ca concentrations (〈0·5 mM Ca) when‘Ratio Law’did not apply the agreement between calculated and observed values was good. The model permits the correction of the experimentally obtained buffer power for the bias related to the great solution volume: soil weight ratio commonly used during the sorption-desorption experiments.

Notes: To understand the contribution of non exchangeable potassium to plant nutrition the release and fixation of K was studied on a range of soil samples of varying K status, obtained from a long-term fertilizer trial. The soil samples were either air-dried or not prior to use so as to determine the influence of pretreatment on release and fixation of K. Sorption and desorption of K were measured by following the changes in solution K and exchangeable K, and calculating the relative contributions of exchangeable and non exchangeable K to K dynamics in the soil-solution systems. The change in the amount of non exchangeable K is proportional to the difference between the initially imposed concentration and the concentration for which neither sorption nor desorption occurred. Whether release or fixation occurs depends on the sign of this difference. Soils containing much K release more K than those containing little K at the same initial or final concentration in solution. The threshold exchangeable potassium and the threshold K concentration for which release becomes large increase when K content increases in the soil. For air-dried soils K-enriched soils fixed less K than those containing little K. But when kept moist the soils fixed no K. The threshold exchangeable potassium of release and the minimal exchangeable potassium, i.e. that part of exchangeable potassium extracted by ammonium acetate but which is not in exchange equilibrium with Ca, are useful criteria to assess the meaning of the exchangeable potassium when used as a fertility indicator.

Notes: Twenty-two wheat cultivars and a wheat line were analysed with two-colour fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using the pSc119.2 and pAs1 repetitive DNA clones to detect if polymorphism could be observed in the hybridization patterns of different wheat cultivars. The FISH hybridization pattern of ‘Chinese Spring’ was compared with wheat cultivars of different origins. Differences were observed in the hybridization patterns of chromosomes 4A, 5A, 1B, 2B, 3B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 1D, 2D, 3D and 4D. Although a low level of polymorphism exists in the FISH pattern of different wheat cultivars, it is possible to identify 17 pairs of chromosomes according to their hybridization patterns with these two probes. This study will help to predict the expected variation in the FISH pattern when analysing wheat genetic stocks of different origin. It is presumed that variation in hybridization patterns are caused by chromosome structural rearrangements and by differences in the amount and location of repetitive sequences in the cultivars analysed.