Task: Story Composition
Input (English): Background Paragraph: Alkali, or Alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (> 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico-chemical properties mainly to the dominating presence of sodium carbonate, which causes the soil to swell[1] and difficult to clarify/settle. They derive their name from the alkali metal group of elements, to which sodium belongs, and which can induce basicity. Sometimes these soils are also referred to as alkaline sodic soils.
Alkaline soils are basic, but not all basic soils are alkaline.
Output (English): Pat has 2 acres of land next to Tim's property. Tim's land is of similar size. The clay soil on Tim's property is very alkaline, so he had to amend it with aluminum salts to make it more acidic in order to grow crops. The soil on Pat's parcel has a good structure and high infiltration capacity. Pat gets twice as much food of his land every year.