In Maharashtra, specially Grape growers are using huse amount of Industrial grade of Sulphuric acid and Phosphoric acid both and claiming that this is helping to bypass the effect of pH of soil, basically the pH of the soil is generally >7.5 to 8.5 and and soil structure is mostly calcarious, due to this high pH the effect of chemical fertilizers is very poor with fertigation also.
The Use of sulfuric and phosphorous acid do not help in highly alkaline soils because these destroy soil micro organisms which helps with soil structure and soil nutrient improvement and worsen the soil structure
No, it does not help, because there will be produced salts of the acids and decreased porosity of the soil.
Actually application of DAP through drip laterals causes choking which can be resolved by dilute application of both PA and SA.
However, a pH level of 7.5-8.5 may not to be too high but beyond that it may pose problems in nutrient availability.
Rather this is most sought for range for general crop cultivation.
When adding acid to the water, most of the protons will first react with the carbonates in the water and some will stay free in the water and lower the pH. As more acid is added, the carbonates concentration in the water will go down, while the pH will remain nearly constant, or will decrease slowly. The ability of an acid to decrease water pH depends on the following:
1 -Acid concentration 2 - Number of H+ (protons) in the acid. 3 - HCO3 and CO3 concentrations in the water 4 - Initial pH of the water.
The injection of acid to the irrigation water should be, as much as possible, uniform and continuous, throughout the entire duration of the irrigation.
The most common acids for agricultural use are Sulfuric acid, Phosphoric acid and Nitric acid.
These acids contribute essential plant nutrients (sulfur, phosphorus and nitrate). These nutrients should be considered in the crop nutrition program.
Note that the water amount applied will affect the amount of nutrient applied with the acid.
Concentration X Volume = Amount
Example:
100 ml of 65% Nitric acid contain 18.5 grams of nitrogen.
Assume that bringing the pH of the irrigation water to the desired level requires 100 ml of nitric acid per cubic meter. With the application of 10 m3 of water we will apply 100 ml/m3X 10 m3X 18.5 g/100 ml = 185 grams.
With 30 m3 of water, the nitrogen amount applied will already become 555 grams.
Use phosphoric acid is very effective in dissolving the turbidity produced out of dissolution of urea and muriat of potash in fertigation prigrame. This is one very effective ways of domesticating conventiinal fertilizers in fertigation , instead of using water soluble fertilizers , the availability of which is often questionable. But, sulphuric acid in combination with phosphoric acid is alqays a questionable preposition , regardless if crops grown in alkalune soils...
in calcareous soil phosphoric acid will produce calcium phosphate and calcium phosphate is not soluble and maybe increase calcium deficiency . I think it doesn't help so much also bring some problems and disorders on plant and soil.
Interesting good discussion. I have a question. in some parts of Sugarcane growing areas soils are highly calcareous and alkaline pH is >8.5. Yellow patches were observed across the fields as well as in soybean as second crop. I would request discussion in detail...
The use of acid in general in high-calcareous soils reduces alkalinity and thus increases the availability of the elements but temporarily according to the regulatory capacity of the soil
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