Question
Asked 5th Jul, 2022

Is there any method to estimate organic matter using soil texture?

I am trying to find the factor K value of some soil samples using soil texture only, but sadly you need to also know the % of soil organic matter. The only data I have is only the % of silt, sand and clay. Is there any way I can do to estimate the organic matter in my soil?

Most recent answer

22nd Sep, 2022
Aminul Islam
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute
We can gaze qualitatively (high, medium, low etc.) about the organic matter content in soil according to the soil texture. But we can't quantify the OM content of soil on the basis of soil texture.
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All Answers (16)

5th Jul, 2022
Paul Reed Hepperly
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
5 Soil organic matter can be suggested by the texture feel and color of the soil.
Included is series of increasing soil organic matter and the increased condition will impart a darker coloration which can be assessed by absorption of a potassium hydroxide extraction.
Besides the darker coloration the organic matter causes a n increased aggregation or clumping of particles. The bulk density will decrease and the feel will be soft allowing earier tillage.
Soils with improved soil organic matter also have distinctive smell imparted by microbiolgical component.
The use of compost is a way to impart thise favorable characteristics to a soil.
Most of thw world tillable soils have less than 2% soil organic matter and 4 to 6% are sufficient to meximize theiir environmental energetic and agronomic performance for most plants.
5th Jul, 2022
Paul Reed Hepperly
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Attached is the soil texture analysis from the water separation of texture classes.
Not included is the ability of the water test to some floating light organic matter.
Idea soil testurehas relatively equal amounts of sand silt and clay and a soil organic matter of 4 to 6%
High sand and high clay are both greatly helped by organic matter addition and sand can be very useful for heavy textured clay soils.
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6th Jul, 2022
Dilip Kumar Pal
National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning
It is not possible.
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6th Jul, 2022
Sachin Kumari
CCS Haryana Agricultural University
The wet digestion method was used to determine the amount of organic carbon in the soil. For Soil texture follow XRD study , after knowing mineral composition , determine soil texture
7th Jul, 2022
Shafa Anis Salsabila
Jakarta State University
Paul Reed Hepperly Thanks for your recommendation Paul, sadly i have to figure it out in numerical terms. Is there a way to know at least whether the amount of organic matter in the soil is > 2% or more than 2%?
7th Jul, 2022
Paul Reed Hepperly
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Many public Universities have soil testing laboratories and there is also the ability to get a soil test from commercial for profit services.
7th Jul, 2022
Paul Reed Hepperly
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
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Soil Testing for Farmers 09 Feb, 2022 Post a Comment📷plantSOIL TESTING FOR NEW FARMERS: A STEP BY STEP GUIDEKetelair Indonesia_ ‘Feed the soil, not the plants’ is a great way of looking at the importance of managing soils for food production. Soils vary in diversity from one location to another, and require comprehensive management strategies for on-site nutrient recycling and long-term land stewardship. Healthy soils will grow healthy crops, and knowing what types of soils you are working with will help you figure out what will grow best on your land. For a farmer on a new piece of land, there are a few methods that will reveal what type of soil and nutrient content you are working with. Soil testing, on an ongoing basis, is an important diagnostic tool to work out next steps and identify trends and patterns for making soil management decisions over time. Soil testing is inexpensive when you consider how much it can save you in amendments, crop failures, and future headaches. SOIL TESTING: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL The first step in soil testing is a soil texture test done with your eyes and hands. This is essential to determine what you are working with. Dig out some soil—enough to roll a small ball between your hands and press into a ‘ribbon’. Look for the following:When you squeeze it with your thumb does it crumble easily or stick together? How loose? How sticky? Does the soil hold moisture well? Does the soil dry out quickly? Loose can indicate that the soil is sandy, meaning good drainage but potentially poor nutrient retention. Sticky can indicate that the soil has a high percentage of clay, meaning higher nutrient retention but potentially poorer drainage depending on overall composition. Are there worms and other creatures in the soil that you can see with your eyes? Insect life helps to demonstrate beneficial soil food web activity. Like looking for animals and birds in the forest, if there’s no sign of life then something is up. No insects in the soil indicate that the ecology needs some TLC to get the nutrient and life cycles back in balance. What is the site history?What past activities have taken place on the land? Are there fundamental ecological functions and cycles that have been lost on site? How could they be brought back? Are there signs of bird and animals use? Tracks, nests, poop? If the land has been used for production, industrial, or commercial activities, what sort of contaminants could these activities have left behind? How deep could the contamination go? You’ll need to seek out an Environmental Testing Laboratory near you to run tests to see if your soil is contaminated. The site history can help you decide what tests need to be run, as there are tens of thousands of possible testable substances, and you want to refine what you are looking for, to reduce the expense of testing. Here’s a great guide on soil testing for urban gardens. If contamination is confirmed, is this a problem you will be able to remediate? If so, what is your remediation timeline and capacity? Are there resources in your community to support soil remediation? For more info on bioremediation, check out Leila Darwish’s book Earth Repair. Other things to look for in assessing your site and soils:Do people and animals (nature trails) like to cut through or use the site? How does water flow through the site? Does it run off? Where to? Does it pool? Where? How does the soil look? Is it compacted? What plants, if any, are growing on site? Where are there plants? Where are there bare spots? Water lovers or drainage lovers? What do those plant indicate? Wikipedia is an excellent resource for learning more about plants, preferred growing conditions, and their ecosystem functions. Are there debris piles? Where and what is in them? Are they safe to move? Are there any weird substances on site? How does the sun move through your site? Where is there sun, where is there shade, and for how long? The sand particles in the soil are the largest and heaviest. Sand will settle to the bottom of the jar within one minute. At the end of one minute, mark the jar with a crayon to indicate the level of the sand. Silts are much smaller and require a longer time to settle out. In two hours, virtually all the silt particles will have deposited in a second layer. Mark the level of silt on the jar. Clay particles are very small. They go into suspension readily and stay there for a while. After a few days, they will settle—you’ll notice the water has cleared. Mark the level on the jar. Time for some math! Use a ruler to measure each layer. A is the thickness of the sand deposit, B the silt, C the clay, and D the combined thickness of all three deposits. The equation below will show you the proportions of sand, silt, and clay in your soil. Percent of sand = (A x 100) / D Percent of silt = (B x 100) / D Percent of clay = (C x 100) / D 📷soil chartOnce you’ve determined the basic composition of your soil, it’s time to get nerdy and figure out what your soil is called. You can use the soil texture classification chart to assess what type of soil you have by taking the percentages you have calculated and figuring out where on the pyramid your soil is. Check out Wikipedia for more info.THE JAR TEST The soil fractional test, or jar test, is a simple way to accurately determine the composition of your soil, and how much sand, silt and clay you are working with. Ready your sample:Take a tbsp. of soil from multiple locations where you hope to grow food, at depths from the surface to eight inches, and mix them together. Aim to fill a quart size mason jar. Dry the sample thoroughly in an oven. When fully dry, pulverize the soil as finely as possible. Rolling pins, mallets, or rounded stones all work. Soil labs often use an old blender. Assemble your equipment:One quart size mason jar with a tight lid One cup of finely pulverized dry soil One tsp of non sudsing dishwashing detergent, such as Borax A watch or clock A crayon Fill the jar 2/3 full of water, pour in the soil and detergent, fasten the lid securely, and shake the jar vigorously for 10-15 minutes. Then set the jar where it won’t be disturbed. Observe:📷LAB SOIL ANALYSISLabs can test for a variety of things: nutrient levels (excess or deficiencies), soil acidity, sodium and soluble salts, organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC, or a soil’s capacity to retain and release cation elements such as K, Ca, Mg, and Na) and Ph. Call your local soil lab to ask for instructions for collecting samples. Here is a basic overview: Take care to follow the necessary steps to obtain a representative sample; a poor sample could lead you astray. First, determine the area that will be represented by the sample. Soil physical appearance, texture, colour, slope, drainage, and past management should be similar throughout the area. It may be helpful to draw a map of the property and identify areas where you will collect samples. If the soil differs significantly from one food growing area to another, you will want to section out testing areas, for long-term testing and developing soil management strategies.SOIL FOOD WEB The life in the soil is as important as the soil texture and chemical composition in terms of growing healthy foods- and creating what wine connoisseurs describe using the French word ‘terroir‘ or flavour. Healthy soils are alive soils. As we’ve learned more about soils over time, folks like Dr. Ingham have developed methodologies for measuring the bacterial and fungal life in the soil. Measuring life is complex; the main limitation is the diagnostic tools we have available. However, patterns emerge and guide us on our way as food producers. A basic rule of thumb is that perennials generally love fungal-dominant soils, and annual vegetables prefer bacterial-dominant soils. Check out Dr. Ingham’s website for more info: https://www.soilfoodweb.com/ THE CREATION OF SOILS OVER TIME: PEDOGENESIS If you like complicated equations (the farm nerd in us sure does!), this is how you get soil: SOIL = f(C, PM, R, O, V) x time C = climate PM = parent material R = relief/topology O = fauna (all animal life) V = flora (plant life) Click the Wikipedia links above to nerd out more on how soils are formed on earth. Nature is pretty amazing.Using a clean bucket and a spade, auger, or sampling tube, collect 12 or more subsamples to a depth of six to eight inches (deep rooted perennial crops can require deeper subsurface sampling) from random spots within the defined area. Avoid sampling field or plot edges and other non-representative areas. Avoid sampling when the soil is very wet or within six to eight weeks after a lime or fertilizer application.BACA JUGAPadi merupakan tanaman yang memerlukan air, tetapi bukan tanaman air Daerah Penghasil BerasTerbaik di Wilayah Indonesia Jenis_Jenis Padi Next, break up any lumps or clods of soil, remove stones, roots, and debris, and thoroughly mix subsamples in the bucket. Once the sample is mixed, scoop out approximately one cup of soil and spread on a clean sheet of paper to air-dry. A fan set on low will help speed the drying; do not apply heat. Do not submit wet soil samples to the lab. Place approximately one cup of your dry sample in a plastic zip-lock bag. Label each Ziplock bag with your sample ID (you create this) and complete the submission form. Unusual problem areas should be omitted or sampled separately. To properly diagnose the causes of poor crop production, collect separate composite samples from the good and poor growth areas. Do not include soil from the row where a fertilizer band has been applied. Taking good records when you first sampled (temp, moisture, rain, etc.) and making sure you sample under similar conditions again is the best way to ensure accurate results. Cold temperature soil will have less active biology than warm soils. Sampling when your soil is at an average temperature for the growing season is recommended, although not necessary. For a list of soil labs in B.C., visit the Young Agrarians UMAP. Type soil into the search field and you will see our list of labs and other resources. Know a good soil resource? Add it to the UMAP!
8th Jul, 2022
Paul Milham
Western Sydney University
Shafa, so far as I know the answer to your question is unfortunately 'no', Paul.
8th Jul, 2022
Alberto René
Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH)
Realmente no se puede tomar la decisión de determinar la materia orgánica a partir del porcentaje de arcilla, limo y arena que conforman la textura de un suelo. La única manera de determinar el porcentaje de materia orgánica es por el método de Walkey y black; que es el método oficial, y la otra manera que no es tan confiable es por el color que presenta la muestra del suelo, esto nos da una ligera idea si es rico o pobre el suelo en materia orgánica, pero no es preciso.
12th Jul, 2022
Paul Milham
Western Sydney University
There is a tendency for high clay content to protect OM from degradation but there is no general relation. Why do you think that a relation should/might exist?
14th Jul, 2022
Girija Prasad Patnaik
Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology
14th Jul, 2022
Annangi Subba Rao
Indian Institute of Soil Science
In mineralogically similar soils say smectitic or kaolinitic soils , a positive relationship exists between soil clay content and soil CEC. In such soils one can predict CEC from clay content using regression equations.
16th Jul, 2022
Annangi Subba Rao
Indian Institute of Soil Science
Clay fraction in soil helps to accumulate more SOC than other fractions as revealed in some long term studies. I have come across an interesting study which shows relationship between carbon stocks and clay content in soils under different climatic conditions and soil characteristics.
Relationship between soil organic carbon stocks and clay content under different climatic conditions in central China. Zekum Zhong et al.2018 Soft copy available in Researchgate site
Forests 2018,9,598: doi:10.3390/f9100598
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17th Jul, 2022
P N Siva Prasad
Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University
During textural analysis, we will degrade OM by H2O2 for finding soil separates.... Walkley and Black method is easy. As of my knowledge, there is no such relationships sir...
31st Aug, 2022
Luis FELIPE Bendezu Diaz
Universidad Nacional San Luis Gonzaga de Ica
Lo que se puede haceres pesar una muestra de suelo, luego atacar la muestra con agua oxigenada de 30 volúmenes para destruir u oxidar a la MOS y luego solo tendremos a los componentes minerales que son arena ,limo y arcilla, secar y pesar por diferencia sabremos el contenido de materia orgánica que contenía él suelo . y los porcentajes de los componentes minerales
22nd Sep, 2022
Aminul Islam
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute
We can gaze qualitatively (high, medium, low etc.) about the organic matter content in soil according to the soil texture. But we can't quantify the OM content of soil on the basis of soil texture.
1 Recommendation

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