<b>Maize in acid soils</b>. These photographs were taken on the same day in adjacent fields. Both show maize growing in highly acid soils, but the plot in the lower image has been weeded to eliminate the effects of competition. Growth of the plants in the foreground of the lower image was very stunted (only about 1.5 m tall at flowering) relative to those in a limed plot in the background. However, they look far better than those competing with acid tolerant weeds, which are dominated by yellow nutsedge <i>Cyperus esculentus</i> (upper image). Ample rainfall resulted in yields of 4 t grain/ha in the weeded acid plots, whereas grain yields in the unweeded plots were less than 0.5 t/ha. Because root growth had been sevely compromised in both acid soils, yields would have been much lower in a drier season. KwaSobabili, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Alandmanson" title="User:Alandmanson">Alandmanson</a>
CC BY-SA 4.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>