Effects Of Elemental Sulfur Application On Growth Of Cole And Soil Environment In Alkaline Soil

Shanxi Province is situated at the Eastern edge of Loess plateau. Datongbasin is located in the north of Shanxi Province where the soil is saline-alkalisoil, and the salinity content in soil, and the soil pH value are high, and thesoil fertility is low. It is disadvantageous to crops' growth, and suppressseriously of the sustainable development of the local agricultural productionand the construction of the ecological environment. As an important kind ofmatter that could improve the saline-alkali soil, improvement effect ofelemental sulfur has already obtained universal recognition by the scientificcircles. But the report about the environmental effect of the elemental sulfurto saline-alkali soil is less. Therefore, this article studied the influence of theelemental sulfur to the environment of saline-alkali soil through the potexperiment, to inquire the best amount of elemental sulfur used to improvesaline-alkali soil, and provided the basic theory of improving saline-alkalisoil. This experiment has established 5 treatment of elemental sulfur: CK, S₁40mg/kg, S₂ 80mg/kg, S₃ 120mg/kg, S₄ 160mg/kg. It studied the influence ofthe different amount of elemental sulfur applied on the pH of the alkali soil,the content of the soil nutrient,the biomass of cole,the content of theNO₃^--N,RNA and the nutrient absorption of plant. The results indicatedthat,1. The pH value of the alkaline soil could be remarkably reduced, andavailable P contents in soil could be enhanced greatly by using elementalsulfur. Along with the application of elemental sulfur executed increasing, thealkaline soil pH reduced, and achieved the lowest point after executingelemental sulfur with a month. The reducing scope of the soil pH was thebiggest when elemental sulfur amount used is the biggest (S₄ treatment). Andcomparing to CK, the largest decrease of pH was 0.5. Along with theelemental sulfur application used increasing, the available P contents of thesoil increased, and the alkalescent phosphate-enzyme of the soil was theopposite and which was reducing with the elemental sulfur amount used increasing. When the amount of the applied elemental sulfur was 120mg/kg(S₃ treatment), available P contents of soil reached the highest value. After 60days, available P contents of soil increased by 68.6% compared with CK.2. By using elemental sulfur, it was able to reduce the content of NO₃^--N inthe soil and the content of NO₃^--N in the cole, and simultaneously enhancedRNA. The content of NO₃^--N in the soil reduced along with the application ofelemental sulfur used being increased. And NO₃^--N contents of the S₄treatment was the lowest. Reducing of NO₃^--N contents reduced the drain ofsoil nitrogen, and raised the availability of the nitrogen.When the amount of the applied elemental sulfur was 120mg/kg, thecontent of NO₃^--N and RNA in the cole were all in the optimum value. After60 days, the content of NO3-N in the cole reduced by 46.9% compared withCK. RNA enhanced nearly 1.8 times more than that of CK. The findingsindicated that, meanwhile, the treatment that had the high application ofelemental sulfur could reduce the pH value of the soil seriously, but thistreatment (S₄) hindered the growth of cole, and reduced the RNA in cole.3. Findings indicated that, using elemental sulfur was able to promote thegrowth of cole,the accumulation of the cole, and the absorption of thenitrogen, the phosphorus. Then this could improve the nutrition condition ofthe cole. The yields of cole increased along with the application of theelemental sulfur used. The optimum effects were S₃ and S₄ treatment, and thelargest yield was the S₃ treatment.After using elemental sulfur into the soil, the absorption quantity ofnitrogen and phosphorus increased along with the application" of theelemental sulfur used, and the optimum effect was the S₃ treatment. Findingsindicated that the influence of the elemental sulfur to the absorption ofphosphorus was bigger than the influence to the absorption of the nitrogen.When sampling concluded, the highest of absorption of phosphorus andnitrogen were all in the S₃ treatment. After 60 days, the absorption ofphosphorus of S₃ treatment increase was 54.98% compared with CK, and theabsorption of nitrogen increased by 24.71%. 4. Influence of the different elemental sulfur applied on available Zn, Mnand Fe contents of surface soil have been studied. Using elemental sulfur,such as Zn, Mn and Fe, could activate the microelements in the soil.Elemental sulfur could enhance the solvency of microelements in the soil,and then enhanced the affectivity of the plant nutrients. This experiment hadalso indicated that, the influence of the pH value on Fe was bigger than theinfluence of Zn and Mn, and especially on the absorption of plant with theseelements. The content of available Zn, Mn and Fe in the soil and theadsorption by plant increased along with the application of the elementalsulfur used. The highest availability of microelements in the soil was the S₄treatment. And the content of available Zn, Mn and Fe in the soil achievedthe biggest between 36d-48d, and then begins to drop. After 60 days,available Zn content in the soil of S₄ treatment increase was 10.06%compared with CK, the content available Mn in the soil increased by 12.03%,and the content available Fe in the soil increased by 20.18%.The absorption of microelements by plant increased gradually along withthe growth of cole. After sampling concluded, Zn, Mn and Fe contents in thesoil of every treatment were all in the highest values. The absorptions of Znand Mn by plant were all the best in the S₃ treatment, and achieved theremarkable level compared with CK. After 60 days, the absorption of Zn of$3 treatment increase was 49.67% compared with CK, the absorption of Mnof plant increased by 41.94%. The influence of the absorption of Fe by plantwas bigger than the influence of Zn and Mn. The effect of the absorption ofFe of the S₄ treatment was higher than the effect of other treatments, andincreased by 86.09% compared with CK after sampling concluded.This experiment proved that, it was feasible to use elemental sulfurimprove the saline-alkali soil. By using elemental sulfur, it could remarkablyreduce the pH value of the alkaline soil, transformed soil physics andchemistry character. At the same time, by using elemental sulfur, manyeffective nutrients in the soil could be activated; growth of plant and nutrientabsorption could be advanced, the content NO₃^--N in cole could be reduced. To study the influence of the elemental sulfur to alkaline soil provided thescientific basis of improving alkaline soil, and enhanced productivity ofagricultural in saline-alkali area.