What type of soil amendment, in what area and for what purpose was it used?
Hi Zeinab,
It depends on the availability of the amendments and the soil problems. In semi-arid mediterranean areas the main problem is low soil organic matter and hence high erodibility under cultivation. The traditional amendments are animal manure, normally from cows, but more recently pig manure is used because of the excess of this kind of residue. Its OM content is very low, though, and it is used mostly as substitute of inorganic (N) fertilizers. Other amendments with high OM content are sewage sludges, that are effective in improving soil structure in the medium term. We tested them in rehabilitation of mined soils and give very good results. In case of sodic (alkaline) soils the amendment to be used is gypsum, either mineral, or as industry residue (phosphogypsum), in order to reduce the ESP by exchange of Na by Ca in the exchange complex.
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