Tolerance of Some Crops to Soil Acidity and Response to Liming

The tolerance of crops to soil acidity i.e. tolerance index for different crops followed the order as: Buck wheat > rice bean > horse gram > amaranth > barley > finger millet > barnyard millet > lentil > soybean > french bean > pea > maize > wheat. Buck wheat, rice bean, horse gram and amaranth have been identified as tolerant; finger millet, barley and barnyard millet as moderately tolerant; maize, wheat, soybean, french bean pea, lentil as sensitive crops to acid soil (lnceptisol) of Himalayan region and need liming for optimum crop production. Liming the acid soil increased the soil pH linearly to near neutrality and reduced exchangeable H, Al, Fe and Mn and raised the exchangeable Ca and Mg status of the soil. Al, Fe and Mn uptake by crops were also greatly reduced.