POTENTIAL AND CAPACITY OF POTASSIUM IN SOME REPRESENTATIVE SOILS OF GHANA

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Abstract
Potassium was investigated in 14 surface samples of soils belonging to different great soil groups. The activity ratios (ARKe) for K to Ca + Mg and estimates of the capacity of the soil to maintain the K potential, i.e., the potential buffering capacity (PB), were obtained from equilibration of the soils in CaCl2 solution containing different amounts of K. The results were compared with other measure ments of K in the soils. Fixation of K against extraction with N ammonium acetate varied from 4.02 to 27.7% in 10 kaolinitic soils, from 41.4 to 48.9% in 3 others where kaolinite was less dominant, and was 90.8% in another, where vermiculite and interstratified vermiculite-mica predominated. The activity ratios were related to exchangeable K in the soils and the amounts of this form of K removed by oats, whereas the PBC values were correlated with the degree of K-fixation and the reserves of nonexchangeable K in the soils. The PBC values increased the effectiveness of the ratios in assessing K supply.

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