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Title: UPTAKE OF SELENIUM BY PLANTS GROWN IN SOILS TREATED WITH INORGANIC AND ORGANIC MATERIALS

Author
item Ajwa, Husein
item Banuelos, Gary

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The uptake of inorganic selenate and organic selenium (Se) by successive plantings of canola (Brassica napus) and multiple clippings of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea L.) was studied under growth chamber conditions. Selenium was added to two diverse soils at a rate of 1.5 mg Se/kg soil as inorganic selenate solution or as seleniferous organic materials [alfalfa (medicago sativa), Astragalus praelongus, or cattle manure]. Tissues of canola and tall fescue accumulated greater concentrations of Se from the inorganic selenate-treatment compared to the treatments with seleniferous organic materials. In the inorganic selenate treatment, average leaf Se concentrations varied between soils and ranged from 218 to 284 mg Se/kg DM for canola, and from 52 to 75 mg Se/kg DM for tall fescue. The addition of non-seleniferous crop residue or animal manure to the inorgnic selenate-treatment soils considerably reduced Se accumulation by both plant species. In soil treated with seleniferous organic materials, leaf Se concentrations of canola or tall fescue were less than 10 Se/kg DM. A selenium mass balance for the various treatments was computed.