| Abstract: | Laboratory experiments were conducted with sodic soils of varying exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) (82, 65, 40, and 22) and a normal soil (ESP 4) to study the changes with time in soil pH, pCO2, Fe2+ and Mn2+ under submerged conditions with and without 1.0 per cent rice husk. In all the soils pCO2, Fe2+ and Mn2+ increased after flooding, reached the maximum value and then either maintained or declined slightly. The release of Fe2+ and Mn2+ was maximum in normal soil and decreased with increase of ESP in sodic soils. Addition of rice husk brought about a conspicuous increase in Fe2+ and Mn2+, the maximum increase being in lowest ESP soil. Flooding reduced the pH of all soils. The effect was more pronounced in the presence of rice husk. The kinetics of pCO2 indicated that accumulation of CO2 was higher in normal soil and least in highest ESP soil. The addition of rice husk showed an average increase of 0.0074 atm pCO2 in comparison to rice husk untreated soils. |
