An Asian Journal of Soil ScienceVolume 10 | Issue 2 | December, 2015 | 263-265 | e ISSN–0976–7231 Visit us : www.researchjournal.co.in

Fertility status of irrigated soils of coastal GirSomnath district of Gujarat

J.V. POLARAAND R.B. CHAUHAN

HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

MEMBERS OF RESEARCH FORUM:

Received : 23.07.2015; Revised : 01.11.2015; Accepted : 16.11.2015

SummaryThirty representative surface (0-15 cm) soil samples were collected from cultivated farmer’sfield of each taluka of Gir Somnath district viz., Talala, Veraval, Sutrapada, Kodinar, Gir Gadhadaand Una during 2014. The chemical analysis of 180 surface samples indicates that soil weredeficient with respect to available N and P

2O

5, whereas medium in available S and high in

available K2O status. Among the DTPA extractable micronutrients, Mn and Cu were found

sufficient, whereas the soils were medium in Fe and Zn. The nutrient index values were low foravailable N (1.20) and P

2O

5 (1.27), medium for available S (1.74), Fe (2.24) and Zn (2.17) and

high for available K2O (2.64), Mn (2.79) and Cu (3.00) in the soils of Gir Somnath district.

Key words : Available macronutrients, DTPA extractable micronutrients, Nutrient index

How to cite this article : Polara, J.V. and Chauhan, R.B. (2015). Fertility status of irrigated soils ofcoastal Gir Somnath District of Gujarat. Asian J. Soil Sci., 10(2) : 263-265.

Research Article

Corresponding author :J.V. POLARA, Department ofAgricultural Chemistry and SoilScience, Junagadh AgriculturalUniversity, JUNAGADH (GUJARAT)INDIAEmail: jvpolara@jau.in

IntroductionSoil fertility has a direct relation with the crop yields,

provided other factors are in optimum level. Soil fertilitymust be periodically estimated as there is continuousremoval of macro and micro nutrients by the cropintensively grown in every crop season. In order to achivehigher productivity and profitability, every farmer shouldrealize that fertility levels must be measured as thesemeasurement can then be used to manage soil fertility.Balanced nutrient use ensures high production level andhelps to maintain the soil health. Fertilizing the soils tobring all the deficient elements at high levels as to providesufficient ionic activity in soil solution for crop uptake isone of the most important consideration for maximizationof the crop yield. Such information for newly formed GirSomnath district of Saurashtra region of Gujarat waslacking. Therefore, an attempt has been made to study

DOI : 10.15740/HAS/AJSS/10.2/263-265

the fertility status of cultivated farmer’s field of coastalGir Somnath district of Gujarat.

Resource and Research MethodsThirty surface soil samples (0-15 cm) were

collected from each of the six talukas of Gir Somnathdistrict, viz., Talala, Veraval, Sutrapada, Kodinar, GirGadhala and Una during May, 2014. Soil samples wereair dried, ground carefully with a wooden mortar andpastel to break soil lumps and passed through 2 mm sieve.The available N, P

2O

5, K

2O and S were determined as

per the methods described by Jackson (1973), whileDTPA extractable micronutrients were determined byAtomic Absorption Spectrophotometer as per methodoutline by Lindsay and Norvell (1978). The nutrient index(NI) values for available nutrients present in the soilswere calculated utilizing the formula as suggested by

Co-authors :R.B. CHAUHAN, Department ofAgricultural Chemistry and SoilScience, Junagadh AgriculturalUniversity, JUNAGADH (GUJARAT)INDIAEmail : chauhanravi3612@gmail.com

HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE 264 Asian J. Soil Sci., (Dec., 2015) 10 (2) :

J.V. POLARA AND R.B. CHAUHAN

263-265

265HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE Asian J. Soil Sci., (Dec., 2015) 10 (2) :

Parker et al. (1951) and classified this index as low (<1.5), medium (1.5 to 2.5) and high (> 2.5) giving underweightage to medium category. Ramamoorthy and Bajaj(1969) modified the index classification as low (< 1.66),medium (1.67 to 2.33) and high (> 2.33).

Nt

3)x(Nh2)x(Nm1)x(N1indexNutrient

where, Nl, Nm and Nh are the number of soilsamples falling in low, medium and high categories fornutrient status and are given weightage of 1, 2 and 3,respectively. Nt is the total number of samples.

Research Findings and DiscussionThe data on available macro and micronutrients

obtained from the present investigation are presented inTable 1. The highest value for available N (406 kg ha-1)was observed in Kodinar, P

2O

5 (78.1 kg ha-1) and S (54.5

kg ha-1) in Veraval, K2O (778 kg ha-1) in Una, Fe (19.0

mg kg-1) in Gir Gadhada, Mn (59.81 mg kg-1) and Cu(6.72 mg kg-1) in Talala and Zn (5.88 mg kg-1) in a samplecollected from Sutrapada taluka. The lowest values foravailable N (114 kg ha-1), P

2O

5 (3.0 kg ha-1), K

2O (137

kg ha-1), and Mn (4.04 mg kg-1) were observed in thesoils of Gir Gadhada, S (1.2 mg kg-1) in Sutrapada, Fe(3.48 mg kg-1) in Veraval, Cu (1.09 mg kg-1) in Kodinarand Zn (0.08 mg kg-1) in one of the sample collectedfrom Una taluka. In general, the soils of Gir Somnathdistrict were low in available nitrogen and phosphorusand the values ranged from 114 to 406 and 3.0 to 78.1with a mean value of 207 and 21.2 kg ha-1, respectively.The lower status for available N and P

2O

5 in the soil is

attributed to the adoption of intensive cropping systemsby cultivators resulting in absorption of plant nutrient inhigher amount, lower organic carbon content and lessuse of FYM in the semi arid tract. The soils of GirSomnath district were high in available K

2O and the

values ranged from 137 to 778 with a mean value of 358kg ha-1. The high available K

2O status in surface soils

could be attributed to more intensive weathering,prevalence of potassium-rich minerals like muscovite andbiotite mica, release of labile-K from organic residuesof cultivated crop plants and upward translocation of Kfrom lower depth along with capillary rise of groundwater (Malavath and Mani, 2014). The available sulphur

status was found to be medium and ranged from 1.2 to54.4 with a mean value of 14.0 mg kg-1. The soils of GirSomnath district were high in available Mn, Cu and Znand medium in Fe. The DTPA extractable Fe, Mn, Cuand Zn varied from 3.48 to 19.00, 4.04 to 59.81, 1.09 to6.72 and 0.08 to 5.88 with their corresponding meanvalues of 9.01, 16.58, 2.27 and 1.02 mg kg-1, respectively.These results are in agreement with the finding of Polaraand Kabaria (2006) and Malavath and Mani (2014).

Based on nutrient index values of soils (Table 2)and the criteria as suggested by Parker et al. (1951), thesoils of Gir Somnath district were low for available N(1.20) and P

2O

5 (1.27), medium for available S (1.74),

DTPA extractable Fe (2.24) and Zn (2.17) and high forK

2O (2.64), Mn (2.79) and Cu (3.00), while as per criteria

suggested by Ramamoorthy and Bajaj (1969) similarresults were found. These results confirmed the findingas reported by Polara and Kabaria (2006) for soils ofAmreli district, Rajput and Polara (2012) for Bhavnagardistrict of Gujarat and Malavath and Mani (2014) forShivaganga district of Tamil Nadu.

Literature CitedJackson, M.L. (1973). Soil chemical analysis. Prentice Hallof India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (India).

Lindsay, W.L. and Norvell, W.A. (1978). Development of aDTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese and copper. Soil Sci.Soc. American J., 42 : 421-428.

Malavath, R. and Mani, S. (2014). Nutrients status in thesurface and subsurface soils of dryland Agricultural ResearchStation at Chettinad in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. AsianJ. Soil Sci., 9 (2) : 169-175.

Parkar, F.W., Nelson, W.L. and Miller, I.E. (1951). The broadinterpretation of soil test informations. Agron. J., 43:105-112 .

Polara, J.V. and Kabaria, B.D. (2006). Fertility status ofirrigated soils of coastal Amreli district of Gujarat. J. IndianSoc. Coastal Agric. Res., 24(1): 50-51.

Rajput, S.G. and Polara, K.B. (2012). Fertility status ofcultivated soils in coastal Bhavnagar district of Saurashtraregion of Gujarat. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 60 (4) : 317-320.

Ramamoorthy, B. and Bajaj, J.C. (1969). Available nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium status of Indian soils. FertilizerNews, 14 (8) : 25-36.

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