Research article

THE ROLE OF PLANT EXTRACTS IN POTASSIUM AVAILABILITY IN CALCAREOUS SOILS

Fatima Jamil Jassim Al Sharifi and Mahdi Wasmi Sahib Al-Aidi

Online First: December 07, 2022


For the purpose of knowing the role of fermented aqueous plant extracts of yellow corn leaves, carpis, eucalyptus and palm fiber in different potassium forms and the growth of yellow corn plant in calcareous soil, a laboratory experiment was conducted by fermenting the plant parts aerobically for 28 days, then the organic acids in the fermented plant extracts were diagnosed by HPLC device, then the aqueous extract of the above plant parts was prepared at a ratio of (1:25) ml g-1 soil.. The soil was incubated at 30°C for periods of 14, 42 and 70 days while maintaining 60% of the field capacity moisture throughout the incubation period by weight method. The amount of dissolved, exchanged, non-exchanged and metallic potassium was estimated after each incubation period. The study concluded that the addition of aquatic plant extracts of maize, carpis, eucalyptus and palm fiber led to an increase in the average amount of soluble, exchanged, non-exchanged, mineral and total potassium in the soil, Its quantity increased significantly with an increase in the level of plant extract added to all forms of potassium in the soil, and the results indicated that the increase in the incubation period led to a decrease in the amount of soluble, exchanged and non-exchanged potassium, an increase in mineral potassium and the stability of total potassium in the soil. The types of plant extracts can be arranged according to their efficiency in increasing the availability of potassium as follows: Yellow Corn Extract > Carpis Extract > Eucalyptus Extract > Palm Leaf Extract > Comparison.

Keywords

plant extracts, potassium, calcareous soils