Effect of lemon waste on soil ph and availability of micronutrient in calcareous soils of fars province, Southern Iran

Abstract

Most of soils of Iran are calcareous in nature. The orchard trees are widespread in south of Iran. Sour lemon is one product of the area and is processed for lemon juice. To evaluate the effect of lemon waste on soil pH and availability of micronutrients, composite soil samples were collected from 0-40 Cm of the area and analyzed for physico- chemical properties. Lemon waste was gathered from processing factory, dried at 70 c and crushed to 1-2 mm size. A statistical complete randomized design with 4 replicate and 30 treatments were used for evaluation of lemon waste on soil properties. The treatments were 0, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 PPM of lemon waste which were added to pots containing 160 go soils and leaved in incubator for 0, 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks at 27-30 c, pot moisture were kept at field capacity during the experiment. At dates of 0, 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks after treatment the treated soils were sampled and physico-chemical properties were determined. According the results, the pH of treated soils with lemon waste decrease and organic mater increase slightly with increase in amount of lemon waste and time of incaution. The availability of Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, and P in treated soils increased with increasing the amount of lemon waste and time of incubation.