Knowledge status for structure liming in Norway

Abstract

Development of new mitigation methods to reduce phosphorus loss from agricultural areas is needed to improve water quality in Norway. In Sweden, structure liming has been of high interest the last years as a method to reduce phosphorus losses. This happens even though only a few studies have investigated their effectiveness. The expected effect of structure liming is due to its effect on aggregate stability and effect on solubility of phosphorus. This report summarizes the knowledge status on structure liming and describes a lab study on phosphorus solubility. In this study, no clear effects on soil phosphorus were found due to liming. The literature suggests an effect of structure liming only on soils with high clay content and a high soil phosphorus status and this may explain the missing effect of liming in our study.