Does Gypsum Increase Crop Grain Yield on No-Tilled Acid Soils? A Meta-Analysis

What is it about?

Crop response to gypsum is more likely in subsoils with high Al saturation under drought Cereals are more responsive to gypsum than is soybean, the recommended thresholds levels differing between the two. Yields can be increased from 7 to 14% in no-tilled soils with high Al saturation in the 20-40 cm soil layer

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Why is it important?

(a) what is the subsoil acidity threshold for recommending gypsum application to NT soils?; (b) what are the factors most strongly influencing the response of grain yield to gypsum in NT soils?; and (c) what is the probability of a positive response and the associated mean increase in grain yield in NT soils? Answering these questions may help farmers and consultants adopt and improve gypsum application in NT soils (Soratto and Crusciol, 2008a; Dalla Nora et al., 2017b). In addition, establishing specific criteria for gypsum management based on experiments conducted mainly in Brazil may help extend its use to other tropical or subtropical regions (e.g., Latin America, Africa) with naturally acid and low-fertility subsoils (Kihara et al., 2017), even some regional research would be necessary. In this work, we conducted a meta-analysis in order to assess the response of grain crops to gypsum application in NT soils.

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