Productivity of clay tailings from phosphate mining: 3. Grain crops. [Zea mays; Helianthus annuus; Sorghum bicolor; Glycine max]
- Univ. of Florida, Ona (United States)
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville (United States)
A split-fold field experiment was conducted to study forage and grain yield, forage quality, plant nutrient concentrations, changes in soil nutrients, and {sup 226}Ra contents of four grain crops in various rotations. The crop rotations (1) corn (Zea mays L. Jacques 247)-sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. Cargil 205), (2) sunflower-grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L, Moench Northrup King Savanna 5), (3) soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. Williams 80)-grain sorghum, and (4) grain sorghum-soybean (University of Florida V-1) were grown on a dry phosphatic clay with and without a 50-mm surface layer of quartz-sand tailings. Results show that corn and grain sorghum produced highest forage yields and highest grain yields per harvest, respectively. Soybean harvested for forage (Crop 1) contained the highest crude protein and in vitro organic matter digestibility. Concentrations of P, K, Ca, Mg, and Fe in most of the forages were adequate for the diets of beef cattle, while those of Mn, Cu and Zn were low. Mehlich I-extractable soil, Ca, and Mg were considered very high and changed little over the 4-yr production period. Application of 50 mm of sand tailings tended to increase Mehlich I-extractable P, Ca, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Fe. Radium-226 concentration in the forage of all grain crops averaged 8.5 Bq kg{sup {minus}1}, which was about 17 times higher than that in the grain of the same crops. Concentrations of {sup 226}Ra in the forage and grain were 1.1% and 0.09% of the concentration in clay respectively. These data indicate that phosphatic clays can be a valuable resource for the production of corn and sorghum grain that contain low concentrations of {sup 226}Ra.
- OSTI ID:
- 5866795
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Environmental Quality; (United States), Vol. 20:4; ISSN 0047-2425
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CROPS
PLANT GROWTH
TAILINGS
RADIOECOLOGY
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY
CLAYS
FIELD TESTS
FLORIDA
GLYCINE HISPIDA
MAIZE
NUTRIENTS
PHOSPHATES
PRODUCTIVITY
RADIUM 226
SORGHUM
SUNFLOWERS
SURFACE MINING
USES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON 14 DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CEREALS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOLOGY
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION IV
GRAMINEAE
GROWTH
HEAVY ION DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEGUMINOSAE
LILIOPSIDA
MAGNOLIOPHYTA
MAGNOLIOPSIDA
MINING
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
SOLID WASTES
TESTING
USA
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
540230* - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)