I am doing work on optimizing requirement of Fe in in saline soil which is having pH 8.3 and ECe 7.5. In this experiment we are getting response of Iron applied through soil as basal in mustard crop.
iam interested in your work but the fe in Alkaline soils was an available , Deposits the iron because calcium carbonate see attachment file is suitable for your work
In soils where plants are showing iron deficiency there is no absolute lack of iron in soil the problem is solubility related to carbonate high pH and salinity as conflicting issues. In your soil the use of sulfur would bring down pH and solubilize the native soil iron. Alternatively once the plant has foliage the use of chelated iron can be employed to combat the nutrient deficiency. Many crops and varieities can be adaptable to high pH and have salinity tolerance these are well employed under your condition. Excess salt can be dispersed and leached and pH can be lowered by use sulfur and ammoniated nitrogen.
If have done some work over the years with soil applied iron in high clay / high pH soils. Looked at different sources of iron as well from iron sulfates, chelated irons as well as iron in NPK fertilizer mixes. The results for me boiled down to: Iron levels in the soil increased over time with repeated applications, but by using foliage analysis during the growing seasons we still found considerable iron deficiencies in the crop (mostly Zea Mays). Less than previous years before applications, but iron levels were still low and we had to apply a foliar chelated iron to reduce the deficiency and the impact it made on the resulting yield.
Chelated iron is going to be your best option. At the pH you are work in, soil iron is going to be quickly made unavailable. Fe EDTA is a common chelated source. Foliar applications are probably to only real option for delivering Fe to the crop. At that pH you will also likely have other metal deficiencies (Mn specifically).
What are the main salts drive the salinity? That can also change remedial strategies. Leaching is probably a strategy to consider. The addition of CaSO4 can help with amelioration of some soil salts, especially if paired with leaching. Changing the soil pH with S application is not going to be very effective. The amount that you would need to add to change the pH enough to make soil Fe available would likely be toxic to the crop.
Thanks Dr Denny for providing good information with reference. I also thanks to Heinrich, Paul, Durood.
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