Surface liming triggers improvements in subsoil fertility and root distribution to boost maize crop physiology, yield and revenue

Bossolani, João William; Crusciol, Carlos Alexandre Costa; Momesso, Letusa; Portugal, José Roberto; Moretti, Luiz Gustavo; Garcia, Ariani; de Cássia da Fonseca, Mariley; Rodrigues, Vitor Alves; Calonego, Juliano Carlos; dos Reis, André Rodrigues

doi:10.1007/s11104-022-05432-2

Research Article
Published: 12 April 2022

Surface liming triggers improvements in subsoil fertility and root distribution to boost maize crop physiology, yield and revenue

João William Bossolani¹,
Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol¹,
Letusa Momesso¹,
José Roberto Portugal¹,
Luiz Gustavo Moretti¹,
Ariani Garcia¹,
Mariley de Cássia da Fonseca¹,
Vitor Alves Rodrigues¹,
Juliano Carlos Calonego¹ &
André Rodrigues dos Reis²

Plant and Soil (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Background and aims

Liming is widely used to alleviate soil acidity worldwide. However, the vast majority of studies with liming are restricted to agricultural systems that incorporate lime into the soil, not considering its effects as surface applications. Although liming effects on soil fertility and crop yield are well understood, there are few studies that elucidate the role of soil improvements in the established crop physiology and the revenue in lime-amended soils, especially when cultivated in regions prone to agroclimatic risks. Here, we address the effects of surface liming, for three growing seasons (2017–2019) subsequent to the lime treatment (2016), on soil fertility, root growth, crop nutrition, photosynthetic pigment concentrations, gas exchange parameters and production costs of maize cultivated in a tropical region on an acidic soil with low water regime.

Methods

The treatments consisted of four dolomitic lime doses applied to the soil surface as follows: i) control (untreated soil), ii) half the recommended dose (½ RD), iii) full recommended dose (1 RD) and iv) twice the recommended dose (2 RD).

Results

Surface liming increased soil fertility, and higher doses provided better results. Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ concentrations increased at greater depths under higher lime doses, directly influencing maize root growth. Even under low water availability, also in the driest year of 2018, this liming induced improvement of growing conditions and increased growth was observed’. Maize grown under lime at 2 RD exhibited better nutrition, improved chlorophylls concentration, photosynthetic parameters and water use efficiency. As a result, both shoot growth and grain yield also increased. Net profit in the first growing season was higher in 1 RD, whereas in the two following growing seasons the application of 2 RD resulted in higher revenue.

Conclusions

Increased water use efficiency, chlorophyll and photosynthesis were the main physiological traits regulating the growth and yield of maize plants in response to lime supply. Additionally, root development was favoured in the entire soil profile, mainly in deeper layers, after improvements on soil fertility by cascading effects of liming. These results were more prominent in 2RD lime-amended soil, which also resulted in greater net profit over the 3 years studied.

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Acknowledgements

CACC, JCC and ARR would like to thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for an award for excellence in research. We also thank the Calcário Guapirama Company (www.calcarioguapirama.com.br) for providing the sedimentary lime used in this experiment.

Funding

This study was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (Grant 2018/11063–7 and 2019/12764–1) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (Universal Research Project: 421637/2018–8).

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Authors and Affiliations

College of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Crop Science, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo, 18610-034, Brazil
João William Bossolani, Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol, Letusa Momesso, José Roberto Portugal, Luiz Gustavo Moretti, Ariani Garcia, Mariley de Cássia da Fonseca, Vitor Alves Rodrigues & Juliano Carlos Calonego
School of Sciences and Engineering, Department of Biosystems Engineering, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Tupã, São Paulo, 17602-496, Brazil
André Rodrigues dos Reis

Authors

João William Bossolani
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Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol
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Letusa Momesso
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José Roberto Portugal
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Luiz Gustavo Moretti
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Ariani Garcia
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Mariley de Cássia da Fonseca
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Vitor Alves Rodrigues
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Juliano Carlos Calonego
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André Rodrigues dos Reis
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Contributions

J.W.B. and C.A.C.C. worked on the research designing and conduction, data analysis, writing and formatting the manuscript. L.M., J.R.P., L.G.M., A.G., M.C.F., V.A.R., J.C.C., and A.R.R. revised this draft by rewriting, discussing and commenting. All authors contributed significantly on this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol.

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Bossolani, J.W., Crusciol, C.A.C., Momesso, L. et al. Surface liming triggers improvements in subsoil fertility and root distribution to boost maize crop physiology, yield and revenue. Plant Soil (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05432-2

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Received: 01 October 2021
Accepted: 06 April 2022
Published: 12 April 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05432-2

Keywords

Field experiment
Acidic soils
Root growth
Photosynthesis
Water use efficiency