Effect of organic matter incorporation into soils on 137cesium uptake by wheat plants

The effect of four straw and two ¹³⁷cesium levels, with and without fertilization, on ¹³⁷cesium uptake by wheat plants was studied using soils from the Blaine Lake and Waiteville soil associations of Saskatchewan (Canada).

Uptake of ¹³⁷cesium using either soil type, when fertilized and treated with any of the four straw and two ¹³⁷cesium levels, significantly decreased with plant age. Such a trend was generally not observed in an unfertilized Blaine Lake soil. Increasing straw application, with and without fertilization, increased the dry matter yields in both the soils although the heavier (particularly the 3 tons/acre) straw addition produced slightly depressed yields for the fertilized soils.

Increasing straw application to both fertilized soil types did not significantly enhance the ¹³⁷cesium uptake in plants grown at either ¹³⁷cesium level. However, increasing the straw levels, without fertilization, in the Blaine Lake soil contaminated with either ¹³⁷cesium level, did not appreciably and consistently affect the ¹³⁷cesium uptake by the plants.

Plants absorbed highly significantly greater ¹³⁷cesium from the 100 compared to the 50 μCi ¹³⁷cesium level in both the soils applied with any straw-fertilizer combination. This trend did not occur with unfertilized Blaine Lake soil.