SOME PRIORITIES FOR BRITISH SOIL SCIENCE¹

Abstract

A Presidential Address provides an opportunity for an account of the state of the subject and a reading of the signposts which seem to point to future progress. The broad philosophical aspects of soil science were discussed by E. M. Crowther (1953) a quarter of a century ago in ‘The Sceptical Soil Chemist’, a paper which is worth reading again. This year our Vice‐President, D. J. Greenland (1978) discussed ‘The Responsibilities of Soil Science’. I shall concentrate on discussing some ways in which soil scientists may contribute further to agricultural development.

Potassium Dynamics in Soils

“…The attainment of equilibrium in the laboratory is entirely possible, but in the field the exchange of K between soil and solution is a dynamic equilibrium, if it is an equilibrium at all." G. W. Cooke (1979) has noted that one of the most important areas of agricultural research now and in the future is modeling of soil-plant processes. Certainly, cation exchange and in particular the dynamics of adsorption and release of K in soils must be an integral part of this research on modeling.…”

Soil structure and potassium supply. II. The effect of ped size and root density on the supply to plants of exchangeable and non‐exchangeable potassium from a chalky boulder clay soil

“…The K,,, compensates in a way which may not even be matched by large increases in K,, by fertilizer additions, an effect suggested by Cooke (1979) for high-demanding crops in dry seasons.…”

“…Current interest in potassium fertility focuses on the rates at which K can be supplied to crops (Cooke, 1979). Quick-growing vegetables (radish).can require higher K levels in soil than the slower-growing ones (sugar beet) despite taking up less over the whole growing season.…”

Variation in yield between two similar sandy loam soils. I. Description of soils and measurement of yield differences

“…It is regarded as being of high priority in the U.K. (Cooke, 1979) to study the reasons for such differences in the expectation that this will lead to the development of better criteria for diagnosing the constraints to growth and, in consequence, advance our ability to increase and predict yields.…”

“…Variation in yield from field to field is often considerable and in field experiments the unexplained variation caused by soil or climatic factors often exceeds that from treatment effects. It is regarded as being of high priority in the U.K. (Cooke, 1979) to study the reasons for such differences in the expectation that this will lead to the development of better criteria for diagnosing the constraints to growth and, in consequence, advance our ability to increase and predict yields.…”