Aglime is a natural product produced by milling limestone and dolomite to a powder form and applying it to the soil to correct acidity and promote plant growth.
Calcium and Magnesium – essential nutrients for pasture and plant growth
Aglime is used primarily to correct soil acidity and maintain proper pH ranges. In addition to this, calcium and magnesium are among the 16 essential elements.
Among the requirements for an element to be considered “essential” is that it must be directly in the nutrition of the plant. Calcium is used by the plant as an important constituent of cell and wall material, which adds to the general strength and stability of the plant. Equally important is the suggested role within the enzyme system in the manufacture of protein. Magnesium is essential as an activator and catalyst in the enzyme system.
Magnesium is the only mineral element around which the Chlorophyll molecule is built. Without Chlorophyll, energy conversion and food production in field crops and pasture would not be possible.
Calcium and magnesium are also important elements for animal health and the prevention of common grazing livestock disorders such as milk fever, grass tetany and twin lambing disease.
Answers for Acid Soils – investing in the future of your soil
Soil Acidification: the sleeping giant.
Acidification is costing the national agricultural economy around $300m in lost production each year. Soil acidity contributes to reduced yield crops and also limits the types of crops we can grow.. Unlike salinity, which has a clear visual degradation, acidity is much more subtle. There is just a gradual decline in production which can easily be blamed on other causes such as poor season, lack of fertiliser etc.
Lime application is the most effective method of repairing acid soils. Implementing a liming program will ensure that high yields can be maintained and valuable crops can be grown for the long term. Applying lime is also profitable with research showing yield increase between25-50% in barley, wheat and canola.
What causes soil acidity?
Soil acidification is a natural process, accelerated by some agricultural practices such as:
- Removal of plant and animal products
- Leaching of excess nitrate
- Addition of some nitrogen-based fertilisers
- Use of shallow-rooted annual based pastures
Cropping contributes to acidity by:
- Crop removal: 5-10 kg lime per tonne of wheat harvested is required to place alkalinity in the soil. A pasture/crop system requires 100-250 kg/ha/year of lime.
- Nitrogen-based fertiliser use: fertilisers which contain ammonium-nitrogen and sulphate-sulphur are highly acidifying. For example, if nitrate is leached after using sulphate of ammonia, 7.1kg lime/kg N is needed to neutralise the acidity.
Removal of farm produce and reliance on annual plant species means that lime must be applied to balance acidification.
We need to view lime as a fixed cost of production.
Please view the Variable Lime Project report on the Perennial Pasture Systems website for information about lime.
Carbon Farming: Liming and Carbon Sequestration
“Acid soils cause significant losses in production and biomass, which restricts the ability to sequester carbon. Applying agricultural lime to these problem soils can correct acidity levels that restrict root growth and crop and pasture production.
Improved soil quality increases soil organic carbon so liming is considered a benefit regardless of whether sequestered carbon is traded”, WA DPIRD website