We are analyzing soils from reclaimed post-mined site and we want to compare the nutrient levels to the recommended soil nutrients levels for both macro and micro nutrients to ascertain the suitability of the reclaimed site soils for cropping particularly in Ghana.
Dear Nat Owusu,
It depends on what crop, or crop you plan to cultivate and also on the scale of cultivation (e.g.: large fields monoculture, versus intercropping, trees/shrubs, versus herbaceous, annual crops). In any case the overall problem with soils in west Africa is their low pH due to weathering and high content in iron, aluminum, zinc oxides. Therefore, amending the soil with organic matter, or calcium base products (e.g.: gypsum or, lime) would increase the pH to a higher level and this already would contribute to "unlock" soil nutrients that may be already there but are unavailable to plants roots for uptake because of high level acidity. Amendation with organic matter will determine a high diversity of soil bacteria and other microrganisms that eventually, will contribute to regenerate soil fertility. A plan of intercropping and crop rotation will be beneficial also in managing the soil fertility for following years. Nutrient recommendations for specific crop species can be found in manual. However, supplying these nutrients without considering the overall condition of the soil as I have explained may not fulfill expectations of producing healthy and high yielding crops.
Well as Dr. Borsari said, it is really depends on the crop, soil, and environmental conditions but, you can have a look on these two publications. These articles might be useful for you.
Article Macro‐ and micronutrients removed by upland and lowland rice...
There are several recommendations for each crop produced from agricultural research
for Nitrogen: 250 to 500 kg/ha
Phosphorus: 28 to 54 kg/ha
Potassium: 140 to 280 kg/ha
this is a range for macro nutrients which are present in soil in available form for better productivity of crop however it depends on soil types and crops which can be maintain by apply fertilizer.
I agree with Bruno Borsari .
Initial soil status of such field must be known to make any kind of recommendations.
This depends on the degree of soil interaction, crop type, soil tissue, etc.
It is a very vague question. There cannot be a standard recommendation for different nutrients for all crops and all soils. As pointed out by several researchers, soil fertility status, soil organic matter status, soil pH and requirement of different crops and varieties will define the fertilizer recommendation in a given field. Ideal recommendations are field specific.
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