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Modeling of potassium leaching from contrasting sandy soils (Case study: Western Australia sandy soils)
Journal article

Modeling of potassium leaching from contrasting sandy soils (Case study: Western Australia sandy soils)

Babak Motesharezadeh, Richard Bell and Hamed Ebrahimian
Romanian Agricultural Research, Vol.2025(42), pp.597-610
2025
url
https://new.incda-fundulea.ro/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=861&lang=en&Itemid=931View
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Abstract

fertilizing practice light soils nutrient leaching soil features
Maintaining an unlimited supply of nutrients to roots in sands is a challenge in agricultural lands. Potassium leaching (KL) in small-scale columns was continued for five pore volumes with four types of sand (5-6% clay including limed and non-limed Merredin sands, Ballidu sand, Whitby sand) from Western Australia and treated with three levels of K (0, 20 and 60 kg K ha-1). The HYDRUS-1D model was applied for simulation of drainage water volume and K leaching for each soil. The model simulated drainage volume and KL for all treatments. The values of root mean square error in simulating K concentration of leachate ranged from 0.0011 to 0.0619 mg/cm3 depending on soil type and the level of K. At the equivalent of 60 kg K ha-1, K leaching in Merredin unlimed and limed soils occurred after pore volumes of 2.5 and 4.75, respectively. Application of 60 kg K ha-1 in Ballidu soil caused a leaching of 57 mg L-1 while the model estimates for KL in this soil was 31.5 mg L-1. Results related to the observed and simulated K concentration of leachate in Ballidu soil, showed that with the application of 60 kg K ha-1 the mean values of these parameters were 27.8 and 34.3 mg L-1, respectively, with indicating that increased pH delayed the KL process. While HYDRUS-1D modeling can be a practical tool in monitoring the leaching of K from sands further improvements are needed to capture the effects of K fertilizer on rates of leaching.

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