KINETICS OF SULPHATE DESORPTION IN SELECTED SOILS AS INFLUENCED BY PARENT MATERIALS AND BIOCHAR IN BAUCHI NORTH, SUDAN SAVANNA, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT
 
The absorptive nature of S by plants depends on desorption of S from soils. Understanding the kinetics desorption of sulphate as influenced by parent materials and biochar is critical for effective precision of S diagnosis and fertilization recommendations to ensure sustainable and profitable crop production and environmental protection. In this study, soils derived from three
 

• different parent materials namely; Chad formation (CF), Basement complex rock (BCR) and Kerri-Kerri formation (KKF) in the Sudan savanna and biochar soils were investigated on the kinetics of sulphate desorption behaviour. In the desorption experiment, soils were allowed to

 
adsorb sulphate as in the adsorption studies and the adsorbed sulphate was extracted by shaking for 30, 60, 150, 180 and 240 minutes with 15 ml Ca(H₂PO₄)₂ solution containing 500 mg P L^-1 respectively. Five kinetic models first-order, second-order, Elovich, fractional power and parabolic diffusion models were used to test best model for describing S desorption in the soils
 
of varying parent materials. Results indicated that the mean values of both soil pH in water and CaCl₂ were significantly (p>0.05) different between soil parent materials. The soils are low in organic carbon (range; 2.90 to 7.25 g/kg) in all the studied soils. The mean values of exchangeable bases and CEC were not significantly (p>0.05) different by soil parent materials. The mean values of the different forms of oxides were significantly different (p>0.05) by soil parent materials. The mean values of total sulphur and organic in all soils from three parent materials were significantly different (p > 0.05). The values of inorganic sulphur (Org.S) ranged from 18.33 to 123.78 mg/kg in all the soils across three parent materials, however the mean values were not significantly different (p>0.05). The results revealed that sulphate desorption decreased with increasing shaking time (range; 34.96 to 19.09 mg/kg) in all the studied soils. Rate of desorption was also characterized by an initial rapid desorption with > 65% being desorbed in the first 30 minutes which was considered as good index for describing S desorption maximum followed by a slow release that progressed gradually up to 240 minutes. The adsorption-desorption processes were irreversible and hysteretic in nature. The trend of magnitude of rate of desorption by the soil parent materials was in descending order:
 
CF>BCR>KKF. The study showed that the parabolic diffusion and first-order models were found to describe S desorption data satisfactorily as characterized by relatively high R² values and lowest S.E values by soil parent materials, respectively. Comparison of R² values of the best isotherm equations indicated that both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were suitable to describe S desorption data in all the studied soils, as can be seen from R² greater than 0.98. However, in view of the low SE, Langmuir equation gave a better fit to experimental data in this study. Organic matter had a significant influence on modeling of S desorption in these soils. The results also revealed that the BC used in this study did not have significant effect on release of adsorb S (p>0.05). Based on the results, can be concluded that rate of sulphate desorption by these soils are time-dependent and mainly controlled by diffusion-controlled phenomena. It is recommended that sulphur management practice in the farm should be tied up with OM management.