Abstract

BARBARO, L. A.; KARLANIAN, M. A.; IMHOFF, S.  and  MORISIGUE, D. E.. Characterization of the subtropical peat of the Islas del Ibicuy Department (Entre Ríos, Argentina). Agriscientia [online]. 2011, vol.28, n.2, pp.137-145. ISSN 1668-298X.

In the low Paraná Delta region (Argentina), anaerobic conditions promote the accumulation of vegetable wastes with almost no decomposition which form the subtropical peat. This is used in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area as a substrate component for plant production, but generally its physical and chemical properties are variable. The objective of this study was to characterize the subtropical peat from Islas Ibicuy Department in order to find the causes for this variation. Twenty-seven samples obtained in its original or natural place and fifty-one commercial samples obtained from three firms were physically and chemically analyzed. In the peat obtained from its place of origin an increasing density, water holding capacity and EC, and a decrease in organic matter, aeration porosity and pH, was observed, from the surface to the base. In the commercial samples, greater variation coefficients in the macronutrient content were observed. Subtropical peat extracted manually was less dense and had more organic matter content than the one extracted mechanically. The peat is variable along the profile and the extraction system influences their properties.

Keywords : Substrate; Paraná Delta; Subtropical peat.

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