Effects of boron distribution on sugar beet crop yield in two Tunisian soils
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Effects of boron distribution on sugar beet crop yield in two Tunisian soils Imene Dridi 1
&
Ahlem Tlili 1 & Salma Fatnassi 1 & Hédi Hamrouni 2 & Moncef Gueddari 1
Received: 25 January 2018 / Accepted: 17 July 2018 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2018
Abstract Boron is an important micronutrient required for the growth of various types of plants. Both a deficiency in boron and its toxicity may lead to marked yield reduction and quality loss of many crop species. The range between these extremes is quite narrow. Therefore, the management of boron in soil has become a worldwide agricultural problem in the recent years. Facing this situation, the present research was undertaken in order to better understand boron distribution effect on sugar beet crop yield in two soils of Dour Ismail irrigated perimeter (North Tunisia). Two pits P1 and P2 were dug in field plots that had not received any boron fertilization. We followed the dynamic of the available boron and its depth distribution according to the three sugar beet cycle stages. Soil samples were taken from different horizons of the profile and analyzed for the main physicochemical properties. Both studied soils are Stagnic Fluvisols (Clayic) and the water used for irrigation comes from Oued Medjerda River. Our results showed that the highest boron values were recorded in surface horizons of the two studied soils. These amounts decreased with depth following different patterns according to the sugar beet cycle stages. The boron vertical distribution was similar to the total organic carbon and clay contents but was greatly affected by some soil properties such as pH, carbonate calcium content, and salinity. Sugar beet yield in P2 (100 t ha−1) was less than that of P1 (114 t ha−1) indicating a problem of boron availability. Keywords Boron . Soil . Boron distribution . Sugar beet . Arid and semi-arid regions
Introduction Boron (B) is one of the seven important micronutrients required for the normal and balanced crop growth of most plants (Ali et al. 2015). Since the discovery of this essential plant nutrient, the importance of B as an agricultural chemical has grown very rapidly and its availability in soil has become a limiting factor in crop production (Saleem et al. 2011). Indeed, B is involved in several physiological and biochemical processes during plant growth. It plays a major role in sugar transport as well as in formation and maintenance of cell wall and cell membrane integrity (Kabu and Akosman 2013). B enters the environment mainly from the weathering of Bcontaining rocks, from seawater in the form of boric acid
* Imene Dridi [email protected] 1
Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, 2092 El Manar, Tunisia
2
Soil Resources Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Tunis, Tunisia
vapor and from volcanic and other geothermal phenomena. B is also released from human activities though to a lesser extent (Bakirdere et al. 2010). In soils, total B content varies from 2 up to 200 mg kg−1, but genera
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