Our farm became barren after an eruption, its loamy soil now sandy. Is it good to turn it into a fishpond?

Question

It's more than an acre of ricefield. We harvests rice twice and an alternate crop year-round but after the eruption it became idle. During the eruption in 1991, ashfall is heavily mixed with sand at 6-inches thick above the farmsoil. We plowed the field so the sand would mix with the loamy soil but it turned that the sand outstand the loamy soil. The result, when irrigated or when it rain, the soil does not hold the water long, so continuous irrigation is needed, which is impossible. It doesn't rain there everyday. And when it shines, you see desert with stubborn grass. That is why it came to our mind turning it into a fispond instead, by subdividing it into suitable area with concrete barriers and dikes.

Answer 1

I don't think you should, because lava has a lot of metals so it can be considered as a good fertilizer other wise , why do plants grow even after an eruption?

Answer 2

In the Argentine Patagonia, next to the Andes, a volcano erupted leaving a high amount of ashes in the 90's.

It affected a very vast area, but mostly a community that based it's agriculture on fine fruits as strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.

That year crops were lost, but the year after that incident, farmers recovered the full potential of their fields and even increased their yields due to the new ashes (soil has a volcanic origin).

As other answerers said, depending on the magnitude you can either wipe it off or plow it.

Answer 3

If the actual volcanic material is shallow, you could either incorporate it (after testing for toxins) or you can scrape it off, or both depending on the area. There can be a lot of benefit to it in small amounts and one of the scenarios where I would suggest plowing it in. You may end up better off, but test the result before and after to get a good idea of your fertilizer needs in the future. A couple inches of ash should be no problem, but give "us" a better idea how deep it really is and how large an area. If you can afford to dig ponds, the tractor could just as easily clear it off.

Answer 4

You can scrape the top layer if its volcanic soil and sell it as filling material, however you said its loamy soil so if i were you i'd get soil samples and have it analyzed.

Answer 5

I wouldn't think that sand mixed with the top few inches of the plow layer of soil would effect the ability of the soil to hold a flood, but it's your land and I guess you know what you are talking about.  To answer your question, it should work out well as a fishpond.  You will be removing all of the top soil, down to the clay subsoil, to make your pond/ponds anyway.  Whatever was in the most recent ash fall will be removed from the pond.  If you are only talking about one acre, you should be able to make a lot more money from a series of fish ponds  than you made from the rice.  I would look into the costs of digging the ponds and income potential from the fish.  You are evidently in a tropical location so I would recommend that you check on raising Tilapia.  That seems to be the big money maker these days.

Answer 6

Soil from volcanoes is usually quite rich and fertile.  Historically, that is why many settlements were established near volcanoes, because of the agricultural benefits.  I would venture the initial heat and/or gas of the eruption (what kind of volcano do you live near?) is the main culprit for the loss of crops.  Unless you highly desire a fish pond, I would try again for crops before throwing in the towel.