-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 10, 983
Boron studies
in Del.
NEWARK, Del. - Delaware’s
humid weather and sandy soils
create ideal conditions for boron
leaching and crop deficiencies.
Given the potential for leaching,
scientists and area farmers have
been puzzled by the frequent
failure of com plants to respond to
added boron. Donald Sparks, a soil
chemist at the University of
Delaware Agricultural Ex
periment Station, thinks the reason
may be because organic matter is
providing the missing nutrient.
To gather basic data on the
behavior of boron in mid-Atlantic
coastal plain soils, he and his
advisee, master’s degree can
didate Clare M. Evans, looked at
the way boron is bonded to and
released from seven different
Delaware soil types. Sparks says
they undertook their study because
so little is known about the
behavior of boron m sandy soils.
They found that the adsorptive
or bonding capacity of this highly
soluble crop nutrient is related to
the clay and organic matter
prcoC"» in the soil, and that high
organic soiL: h «ve a greater ability
to retain boron than with low
humus levels.
“Com doesn’t require much
boron,” Sparks says. “It’s possible
that even the small amount of
organic matter in Delaware's
sandy soils is enough to give plants
what they need."
He says he knows of only one
other study on the kinetics of boron
in the soil. That concerned only
desorption (release from soil
particles) and was conducted m
California where too much boron in
sometimes a problem. On sandy
East Coast soils like those on the
Delmarva peninsula, the difficulty
is determining whether or not a
deficiency exists.
“We haven’t established that
yet,” says the scientist, “but Ms.
Evans’ work gives us a start. When
we don’t get a response to added B,
we need to know why.”
Area fanners who grow corn
under intensive management -
high plant populations and
irrigation - probably would benefit
most fr6m this information. Boron,
like other micronutrients, is ex
pensive, yet producers feel they
need to apply it because of its
teachability and the fact that they
are striving for maximum yields
and can’t risk a deficiency.
Evans presented a paper on this
research during the national
meeting of the American Society of
Agronomy, August 14-19, in
Washington, D.C.
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