Greenhouse experiments were conducted with leaching columns (60 cm long by 15 cm diam.) of disturbed acid soil to evaluate the effect of plant residues on the mobility of surface-applied calcite lime in the soil profile. Plant residues were: black oats, rye, mucuna, leucaena, and wheat straw at a rate of 40 Mg ha-1. Lime and plant residues were applied on soil surface and after an irrigation program equivalent to 1500 mm rainfall per year the following observations were made: pH, exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, and Al and the chemical composition of drainage water. Effect of lime without plant residues was limited to the upper 10 cm profile. Lime with plant residues changed pH, Ca, Mg, and Al in the soil profile. The efficiency of plant residues on lime mobility followed the order: black oats > rye > mucuna > leucaena. Wheat residue had no effect on the mobility of lime. The decrease in Al, Ca and Mg in the upper layer of the profile was followed by an increase in K. Metal-organic complexe reactions were assumed to be the main mechanism on lime mobility through plant residues.
Subsoil acidity; Ca leaching; green manure
