**Part 3**

**Soil Fertility and Irrigation**

86 Soil Health and Land Use Management

Zbytniewski, R. & Buszewski, B. 2004 Characterization of natural organic matter (NOM)

Zbytniewski, R. & Buszewski, B. 2005 Characterization of natural organic matter (NOM)

properties. *Bioresource technology* 96: 471-478

of compost maturation. *Bioresource technology* 96: 479-484

derived from sewage sludge compost. Part 1: chemical and spectroscopic

derived from sewage sludge compost. Part 2: multivariate techniques in the study

**6** 

*1Japan 2USA* 

**Nutrient Mobility and Availability with** 

**Vegetable Crops on Sandy Soils** 

Shinjiro Sato1 and Kelly T. Morgan2

**Selected Irrigation and Drainage Systems for** 

*1Department of Environmental Engineering for Symbiosis, Soka University, Tokyo, 2Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Florida,* 

A wide variety of vegetable crops is produced on varying types of soils including sandy soils where the production can be maximized as long as proper fertilization, irrigation and drainage systems are implemented. However, most sandy soils have low water- and nutrient-holding capacities, hence appropriate irrigation scheduling is critical for proper plant health as well as for minimizing water requirement. Healthy crops are better able to withstand pest and disease pressures, as well as produce a high quality commercial product. Irrigation management should be geared towards maintaining optimum moisture and nutrient concentrations within the plant root zone. If this goal is achieved, crops will take up their maximum amounts of water and nutrients with minimum wastage. Equally important, excessive irrigation will reduce water use efficiency, as well as require more water and

It is crucial to recognize how nutrients move and transform in soils after the application for improved application efficiencies and reduced environmental losses. However, different irrigation and drainage systems practiced on sandy soils for vegetable production can complicate the dynamics of mobility and availability of nutrients and water. Yet, the number of researches on this matter has not been as many as needed. Therefore, this review attempts to summarize characteristics of sandy soils for vegetable production (Section 2), clarify pros and cons of different irrigation and drainage systems practiced on sandy soils (Section 3), and elucidate the nutrient mobility and availability for vegetable production under different irrigation systems specifically on sandy soils (Section 4), in which the soil environment can greatly differ from other soil types in terms of nutrient dynamics in soil.

Soils on which crops are grown greatly influence how irrigation water, nutrients, and other agrichemicals should be managed to maximize the production while minimizing resource use and effects on the environment. Soil properties that influence soil water management

contribute to potentially negative environmental impacts.

**2. Characteristics of sandy soils for vegetable production** 

**2.1 Types and physiochemical properties of sandy soils** 

**1. Introduction** 
