Influence of Organic Matter on the Physical Properties of Some East Anglian Soils of High Silt Content

Abstract

A comparison was made of the physical properties of pairs of silt soils differing only in organic matter content. Within the textural group studied, the member of the pair with more organic matter had better physical properties relating to both plant growth and soil management. Increased organic matter give higher water holding capacities and porosities, and decreased compaction, breaking strength and bulk densities. Organic matter content alone was not sufficient to explain differences in aggregate stability to water.

Enhancing crop yields in the developing countries through restoration of the soil organic carbon pool in agricultural lands

“…Therefore, an increase in SOC concentration would produce the same level of crop yield with a reduced level of fertilizers (Vallis et al, 1996;Aggarwal et al, 1997) because of an increase in fertilizer-use efficiency and a decrease in nitrate leaching (Vallis et al, 1996). Increases in the SOC pool also enhance soil structure and aggregation (Tisdall and Oates, 1982;Stengel et al, 1984;Haynes and Swift, 1990;Feller and Beare, 1997;Haynes and Naidu, 1998;Gardner et al, 1992;Hamblin and Davies, 1997;Karlen et al, 1994), making soils less prone to crusting and compaction (Diaz-Zorita and Grosso, 2000) and soil erosion (Schertz et al, 1994;Benito and Diaz-Fierros, 1992).…”

The influence of organic matter on aggregate stability in some British soils

“…Other investigations (Greenland, 197 I ;Hamblin & Davies, 1977;Hamblin & Greenland, 1977) have shown significant correlations between particular organic matter fractions and aggregate stability. This suggests that total organic matter levels alone may not be sufficient to explain variations in aggregate stability but that certain fractions within the soil organic matter may be particularly active.…”

Effect of Topography and Soil Depth on Clay Content, Organic Matter Content, Active Acidity, Reserve Acidity and Cation Exchange Capacity of Some Tea Soils of Bangladesh

“…The proper growth of plants, like tea, jute, coffee etc. mainly depends on soil management, physicochemical properties and nutrient status of soil and their availability to plants [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. However, the reproductivity as well as survival of microorganisms depends largely on active acidity, reserve acidity, buffer capacity and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”