Investigating the application of humic acid and irrigation levels on some physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil under bell pepper cultivation

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Soil Science,, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran

2 Assistant professor, department of science and engineering faculty of agriculture, lorestan university. Khoram abad, Iran

3 Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran

4 Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Humic acid can improve water absorption by plants by improving soil structure and water retention in soil. These characteristics have caused the use of humic acid in the soils of dry areas to be considered. This study aimed to investigate the simultaneous effect of humic acid and deficit irrigation on soil physical and biological properties under the cultivation of bell pepper. A factorial-based experiment in a randomized complete design was carried out with three levels of humic-acid (0 (HA0), 2 (HA20), and 4 (HA40) g per pot) and four irrigation levels (60 (L60), 80 (L80), 100 (L100), 120 (L120), (percent of soil moisture depletion) with three replications in the research greenhouse of Payam Noor Bojnourd University. The results showed that the best treatments for improving soil physical properties, AS (aggregate stability), and decreasing PAD (percentage of aggregate destruction)), were L80HA40, L100HA40, and L120HA40 treatments. Also, by increasing the dose of HA and increasing the irrigation level up to L80, the activity of urease, alkaline phosphatase, and acid phosphatase enzymes increased and then decreased in L100 and L120.Therefor the highest amount of urease, alkaline phosphatase, and acid phosphatase enzymes (μg NH4+-N g-1 dry soil 2h-1) 678.98, 845.54 671.30 (μg PNP g−1 dry soil h -) were observed in L80L40, which were to be 4.6, 5.9, 2.8 and 0.6 times more than L60HA0 treatment, respectively. By increasing the amount of humic acid and increasing the irrigation levels up to L100, respiration rates increased and then decreased at L120, however, microbial activity followed by respiration at L80 and L100 were not significantly different.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Investigating the application of humic acid and irrigation levels on some physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil under bell pepper cultivation

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Introduction

Humic substances are formed through the mineralization of plant and animal residues and through the biological activities of microorganisms. The humic acid (coloured recalcitrant organic compounds) application increases the soil porosity and the water use efficiency and reduces the moisture stress conditions for plant growth (Hal et al. 2021). Humic substances directly and indirectly have significant effects on plant growth. It also improves water and nutrient absorption (Moghbeli and Arvin, 2014). Humic substances are eco-friendly and they reduce the application of chemical fertilizers. On the other hand, drought is one of the most important abiotic stress factors that have a negative effect on the growth, metabolism, and performance of plants (Bhati et al. 2015). The first reaction of a plant to drought stress is growth reduction, during drought stress. This research aims to determine the effect of different amounts of humic acid to reduce the destructive effects of deficit irrigation on bell pepper production in greenhouse conditions.

Materials and Methods

A factorial-based experiment in a randomized complete design was carried out with three levels of humic-acid (0 (HA0), 2 (HA20), and 4 (HA40) g per pot) and four irrigation levels (60 (L60), 80 (L80), 100 (L100), 120 (L120), (percent of soil moisture depletion) with three replications in the research greenhouse of Payam Noor Bojnourd University. To prepare the pots, the soil sample was passed through a 2 mm sieve and humic was added to the soil sample according to the experimental treatments. Two bell pepper seedlings were transferred to each pot and all pots were irrigated according to the experimental treatments. Eighty days after cultivation, plants were harvested and soil samples were air dried. Soil texture, soil pH, electrical conductivity (ECe), soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, soil urease, acidic and alkaline phosphatase, and soil microbial respiration were determined by conventional methods.

Results and Discussion

The aggregate stability (AS) increased with the increase of humic acid application and the irrigation level up to (L100) and then decreased at the irrigation level of 120% (L120). The highest AS was observed in the L100H40 treatment, which was 2.04 percent higher than the L60HA0 treatment. In contrast, the maximum value of the aggregate destruction percentage (PAD) was observed in the L60HA0 treatment compared to the L100HA40 treatment. By increasing the amount of humic acid application and increasing the irrigation levels (up to L80), the soil urease activity and alkaline and acid phosphatase increased and then their values decreased at L100 and L120 treatment, however, the activity of these enzymes was not significantly different. The highest soil urease and alkaline and acid phosphatase was observed with 678.98 (μg NH4+-N g-1 dry soil 2h-1, 845.54 and 30.671g-1 dry soil h-1) µg PNP) in L80 HA0 treatment which were respectively 5.9, 2.8 and 6 times higher than the L60HA0) treatment. Based on the results, with increasing the humic acid application and the increase in irrigation levels up to L100, respiration rates increased and then decreased in L120, however, microbial activity and respiration in L80 and L100 were not significantly different. Therefore, the highest amount of respiration (3.77-2.74) was observed in L100HA40, which was on average 2.5 times higher than the L60HA0 treatment. Also, the comparison of the main effect of humic acid on total soil nitrogen concentration showed that due to the use of humic acid in the soil, the concentration of total soil nitrogen increased significantly. The results also showed the positive effect of the humic acid application on the soil's available phosphorus concentration. Thus, at all levels of irrigation water, the concentration of soil available phosphorus in the treatments containing humic acid was significantly higher than in the treatment without humic acid. Also, available potassium increased in treatments containing humic acid. These results can be attributed to the relatively high concentration of potassium in humic acid (25.7 mg/kg) by adding humic acid to the soil.

Conclusion

The highest activity of soil urease, alkaline and acid phosphatase enzymes was observed in the L80H40 treatment. Nevertheless, the amount of moisture required for maximum stability of soil accumulation (AS) and minimum PAD was obtained in the L100 treatment. In general, better absorption of nutrients and plant growth and crop production were observed in HA40 treatment with an 80% soil moisture level. It seems that the use of humic acid can be very effective in reducing the water requirement and it helps to improve the activity of microorganisms and increase the soil stability indexes.

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Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 54, Issue 12
March 2024
Pages 1929-1943

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