Agrotechnology

Clay-humus complexes in a mixed grove in hyper-arid desert of Punjab, India: Infrared spectroscopy

7^th Global Summit on Agriculture & Horticulture

October 17-19, 2016 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Moamen Mohamed ElKady and S S Mukhopadhyay

Desert Research Centre, Egypt
Punjab Agricultural University, India

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Agrotechnol

Abstract:

Humification is possibly the best way of sequestrating and retaining carbon in soils, which could be linked to tree species cover. Therefore, an intensively managed multi-species orchard at Abohar in hyper desert in Punjab (30°08â??N; 74°12â??E; 180 m a.s.l.) was selected for the study. Samples were collected from genetic surface soils under 6 tree-species and under cotton. Clays and organic matter (SOM) were extracted, and clays were fractionated into natural, mineral, clay-humus, and claycarbonates. The absorption peaks Infra-red Spectroscopy showed that SOM composed of functional groups of alcohols, phenols, amides, quinine, aldehydes, humic acids, fulvic acids, ketones, alkynes, alkyle halides and aromatic benzene compounds, while clays contained illites, kaolin, montmorillonite, chlorite, and palygorskite. Inorganic carbon (atom %) ranged between 11.61 and 50.41 in soils. The variation of SOM was narrower than that of oxidizable organic carbon to humus ratio. The conversion of organic matter to humus was best performed in the soils under guava followed by date palm and Indian jujube. Data showed that humus was retained in soils through complexation reactions with clays, and clay mineral occurrence was little influenced by tree species, but humus composition was influenced by it.

Biography :

Email: moamen.elkady@yahoo.com