Acidic soils pose challenges for crop production by causing aluminium and manganese toxicity, limiting the availability of nutrients like phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and molybdenum, and reducing soil microbial activity. In the context of climate change, with more erratic rainfall and extreme weather, management strategies need to be both corrective and sustainable.
1. Smart Liming Practices
Lime is the most effective corrective measure for acidic soils. Still, climate-resilient use involves smaller, frequent applications (micro-dosing) to reduce losses under heavy rainfall, and targeted placement near the root zone. Locally available lime sources or industrial by-product lime can lower costs and reduce environmental impacts.
2. Organic Matter and Biochar
Organic amendments such as compost, farmyard manure, green manures, and biochar buffer soil acidity, improve nutrient cycling, and enhance microbial activity. Biochar is particularly beneficial because it stabilises soil pH, increases water-holding capacity, and sequesters carbon, making it both a soil-improving and climate-mitigation strategy.
3. Agroforestry and Cover Crops
Integrating trees and shrubs with crops helps recycle nutrients from deeper layers and prevents soil erosion. Cover crops like legumes and buckwheat protect against erosion, add organic matter, and slow acidification. Such diversified systems build resilience against rainfall variability while improving soil fertility.
4. Climate-Smart Fertilizer Management
Using acid-tolerant crop varieties, adopting integrated nutrient management (lime + organic amendments + balanced NPK + micronutrients), and favouring nitrate-based fertilisers over ammonium-based ones can reduce soil acidification. These practices ensure nutrient efficiency and maintain productivity under variable climatic conditions.
5. Water Management
Proper drainage is essential because prolonged waterlogging can intensify acidity. In acid sulfate soils, alternate wetting and drying (AWD) helps improve soil chemistry while conserving irrigation water.
6. Innovative and Emerging Approaches
Bio-liming with microorganisms that naturally increase soil pH, precision agriculture tools such as pH mapping and variable-rate lime application, and conservation practices like contour farming, mulching, and reduced tillage further enhance resilience. These technologies allow for more efficient resource use and minimise environmental damage.
A climate-resilient approach to combat acidic soils in crop fields involves integrating soil, crop, and resource management practices that not only correct acidity but also enhance long-term productivity and adaptability to climate stress. The key strategies include:
Liming and Soil Amendments: Application of lime (CaCO₃), dolomite, or other alkaline materials to neutralize soil acidity and improve nutrient availability. Use of biochar and industrial by-products (e.g., paper mill sludge, basic slag) can also enhance buffering capacity under changing rainfall patterns.
Integrated Nutrient Management (INM): Combining organic sources (farmyard manure, compost, green manure, crop residues) with balanced fertilizers to buffer soil pH, increase cation exchange capacity, and sustain soil health.
Acid-Tolerant and Climate-Resilient Varieties: Cultivating crop varieties and hybrids that can tolerate low pH and aluminum/manganese toxicity while being resilient to heat and drought stress.
Agroforestry and Conservation Agriculture: Incorporating deep-rooted trees, minimum tillage, and residue retention to improve soil organic matter, water holding capacity, and resilience to climatic variability.
Water and Nutrient Management: Efficient irrigation, mulching, and use of slow-release or coated fertilizers to reduce nutrient leaching in acidic soils under high rainfall conditions.
Microbial Inoculants: Using acid-tolerant rhizobia, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, and mycorrhizal fungi to enhance nutrient uptake and biological buffering of soil acidity.