Towards sustainable soil acidity management of Chinese croplands at regional level

This project aims to develop sustainable soil acidity management options for regional applications. This will be done by assessing: (i) the spatiotemporal variation of soil acidification of croplands in response to fertilization management (ii) the impacts of nutrient management scenarios on soil acidification and cadmium (Cd) crop uptake and (iii) optimal nutrient management to avoid soil acidity-induced yield losses and Cd uptake of main cereal crops. Mitigation strategies mainly focus on liming and replacement of chemical fertilizers with local manure resources. The project will be carried out in the Qiyang County of the Hunan Province. The project comprises four objectives: • Assessment of long-term optimal nutrient management strategies to mitigate soil acidification and nutrient losses at field level • Calculation of spatially explicit amounts and intervals of lime (base cations) to counteract the current and future acidification at county level • Assessment of impacts of various nutrient management scenarios on cropland soil acidification and cadmium mobilization in paddy soils at county level • Development of optimal strategies to avoid soil acidity-induced yield losses and cadmium (Cd) uptake of rice at county level