Acid Soils

Shabir Ahmed
PhD (Soil Science)
 Problem Soils
2 major groups
1) Acid soils
2) Salt affected soils (Saline and Alkali soils……..
………………………Other type of problemtaic soil is
Calcareous soil
Acid soils occur in those areas where rainfall is higher, i.e
precipitation > evapo-transpiration

Salt affected soils occur in arid and semi arid regions where,
precipitation <evapo-transpiration

Calcareous soils occur in semi-arid region which contains

parent material like CaCO3 (pedogenic)
In India Acid soil covers 49.0 million ha, whereas, salt affected
soil covers 8.0 m.ha
Soil acidity is defined as proton (H+) yielding capacity of
soil during its transition from a given soil pH to a reference pH.
(Jackson,1958)

Acid soil is a base unsaturated soil with enough amount of

adsorbed exchangeable H+ & Al3+ ions with the soil pH of <6.0
is called acid soil. An acid soil is actually a mixed H-Al system, i.
e. such a soil has both H+ and Al3+ ions as exchangeable ions.
Properties of acid soil
 Low CEC
 Intermediate texture (Sandy loam to Loam)
 Low organic matter content (except hilly region and forest soils)
 Low P content but N is variable
 High amount of Fe and Al in soil soln.
 Problem of soil acidity
1. Physical Problems- in extreme acid soil, soil will be heavily
aggregated and very compact like laterite.
2. Chemical problems are
a. Acid toxicity
b. Toxicity of different nutrient elements- such as Fe, Al and Mn
are more soluble form
c. Nutrient availability is reduced especially N, P, K Ca, Mg, Na,
d. Nutrient imbalances due to fixation of PO4 by Fe, Al and Mn,
e. Boron and Mo availability decreased
3. Biological problems: Microbial activity decreases
a. Bacteria and actinomycetes will not show their activity when
the soil pH drops below 5.5.
b. Nitrogen fixation in acid soils is greatly affected by lowering
the activity of Azatobacter sp., and Rhizobium species.
c. Fungi can grow well under very acid soils and cause various
diseases like Foot rot of Black pepper and blights of potato etc.
 Soil pH and Nutrient Availability

• pH = master variable influencing the availability of plant nutrients

• Toxicities of some metal ions (Fe, Mn, Al)
• Deficiencies and reduced availability of Ca, Mg, P, B, and Mo)
• Decrease soil biological activity (Rhizobium, mycorrhizal fungi)
• Availability of cationic forms of Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn increases at low pH
• Increased activity of bacteria and actinomycetes at mildly acidic to
high pH soils
• Fungi predominate in acid soils
 Causes of soil acidity
1. Leaching of bases like Ca, Mg, Na etc., due to heavy
rainfall
2. Acidic parent material like granite
3. Use of acid forming fertilizers like Urea and ammonium
sulphate
4. Decomposition of organic matter leading to release of
various organic acids
5. Continuous cultivation of crops leads to more absorption
of basic cations form the soil
6. Acid rains containing sulphate and nitrate ions
7. Aluminium and Iron polymers- One Al species release 3 H+
ions upon stepwise hydrolysis and similar reactions are
possible with Fe3+ also.
8. Laterization, podzolization and accumulation of
undecomposed organic matter under marshy conditions
contribute to soil acidity.
Rainfall/leaching
Fertilizers
Pedogenic causes of formation of Acid soil
i) Laterisation:
In Tropical region: high rainfall coupled with high
temperature causes laterisation which in turn leads to
intense
weathering and leaching of bases like Ca, Mg.
(Orissa, M.P., Bihar, w.B.- Assansol, Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia)

ii) Podzolisation in areas with sub-temperate to temperate

climate, where organic matter content is high. (Low
Temp. and high Rainfall)
(H.P, terrai region, Kashmir, Assam (some parts)
iii) Marshy, Peaty conditions with significant amount of under
decomposed and partly decomposed O.M.
iv) Intense leaching in light alluvial soil in high rainfall
areas having partly decomposed O.M.
(Occurs , N. Bengal, Coochbehar, N and S Dinajpur, Malda (some parts)
V) Coastal Region: Acid sulphate soils: Inundation of sea water in low
land areas (Kerala, Sundarban)
Laterization is a pedogenic process ; found in tropical and subtropical
environments. High temperatures and heavy precipitation result in the
rapid weathering of rocks and minerals. Movements of large amounts of
water through the soil cause eluviation and leaching to occur.
Laterisation is the process of desilication, i.e., removal of silica and
accumulation of sesquioxides ) Iron oxides give tropical soils their unique
reddish coloring. Heavy leaching also causes these soils to have an
acidic pH because of the net loss of base cations.
Podzolization is associated with humid cold mid-latitude climates and
coniferous vegetation. Decomposition of coniferous litter and heavy summer
precipitation create a soil solution that is strongly acidic. This acidic soil
solution enhances the processes of eluviation and leaching causing the
removal of soluble base cations and aluminum and iron compounds from the
A horizon. This process creates a sub-layer in the A horizon that is white to
gray in color and composed of silica sand.
PEATY AND MARSHY SOIL
– Occur in Humid region.
– Formed by of organic
– accumulation matter.
– Black in colour.
Highly acidic and
• Areas:
heavy.
– Kottayam & Alleppey in Kerala, Coastal
Orissa,
Sundarbans of W.B
 Kinds/Forms of Soil Acidity
3 Major Forms
Active Acidity:
Due to H+ and Al3+ ions in soil solution, Very small pool
Extremely important (determines the solubility of many substances)
Exchangeable Or Salt Replaceable/Potential Acidity
Due to exchangeable H+ and Al3+ ions
These ions can be released into soil solution by cation exchange with an
un-buffered salt, such as KCl
Clay-(H+,Al3+) + 4KCl <----------> Clay-(K+, K+, K+, K+) + AlCl3 + HCl
Soil solid soil solution Soil solid soil solution
It is very High in soils with moderate to strong acidity and is difficult to
neutralize.
At given pH exchangeable Acidity Smectite> vermiculite> Kaolinite
Reserve Acidity
Due to H+ and Al3+ ions (including Al(OH)2+ and Al(OH)2+ that are bound in
non-exchangeable forms by clay and OM
acidity produced due to dissociation of H+ from Al-OH, Si-OH at the broken
edges or external surface of the clay minerals,
and also H+ dissociate from -COOH , -OH phenolic and –NH group
Total acidity = Active acidity + salt-replaceable (exchange) acidity + residual acidity
Any resistance to change in pH of the soil or soln. by an
external agency (alkali) is known as buffering capacity.
β= db/dpH

–Direct correlated with CEC of a soil, a high CEC is associated with a large
number of exchange sites

Mont > Illite > Kaolinite

Soils having higher Humus
shows higher bc
–
–High buffered soils are organic soils, and 2:1clay soils.
Low buffered soils are low organic matter soils and 1:1 clay soils.
 Management or Amelioration of soil acidity
How to overcome the deleterious effect
i) Agronomic approach –grow acid tolerant crops
ii) Chemical approach- use liming material to increase the soil pH
LIME REQUIREMENT(LR)-
The lime requirement of an acid soil is the amount of a
liming material that must be added to raise the soil pH to
level.
a desire
Liming Material = material whose Ca and Mg compounds are
capable of neutralizing soil acidity

Common Liming materials:

Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) ,
Dolomite (CaCO3,MgCO3), Burnt lime (CaO),
Slaked lime (Ca(OH)2
Marl, Oyster shell,
Basic slag (CaSiO3)
 Concept
Amending acid soils with liming material provides conjugate bases (Co32-, OH-, SiO32-,
Etc.) of weak acids. These bases are capable of reacting with H+ ions to form weak acids
(such as water)
 Why gypsum is not considered as liming material?
Gypsum is not considered as liming materials because on its application to
Ca+2 and SO ions:
-2
an acid soil it dissociates into
↔Ca+ +
4
C aSO 2
SO -2
4 4
The accompanying anion is sulphate and it reacts with soil moisture
produces mineral acid (H SO ) which also increases soil acidity
reducing soil acidity instead
2 4
of
SO - + H O → H SO
2 4 2 4 2
Basic slag can also be used as liming material when it is
applied to an acid soil the following chemical reaction takes
place.

H Ca

Soil + 2CaSiO3 + 3H2O = Soil +2H2SiO3 + Al(OH)3

Al Ca
The metasilicic acid is weakly dissociated, much less so that the clay adsorbed
H+ ions and the pH of the soil raised
 Benefits of liming on acidic soils
1. Direct benefits
a. Addition of lime raises the soil pH to a desired level.
b. It eliminates major problems of Fe, Al, Mn and H toxicities.
2. Indirect benefits
a. The nutrients like Ca2+ and Mg2+ are added to the soil if lime is
dolomite (Ca, MgCO3)
b. The raised pH also reduces excess soluble Mn and Fe by forming
insoluble hydroxides.
3. Phosphorus availability is improved or increased because of liming
precipitates
Fe and Al in other forms (P is fixed as Fe and AlPO4).
4. It makes K+ more efficient in plant nutrition.
5. It increases the availability of N by creating a more favorable
environment for microbes.
6. Bacterial activity is enhanced and help in control of certain plant
pathogens like
club rot disease of cole crops.
Cat Clays
Acid sulphate soils on aeration produce acidity by the
oxidation of sulphide to sulphuric acid.
Thanks