scholarly journals Assessment of Soil Fertility Attributes in Selected Districts of Bundelkhand Region of Central India

Author(s):  
Mahendra Prasad ◽  
Sonu Kumar Mahawer ◽  
Prabhu Govindasamy ◽  
Sunil Kumar

An observational study was carried out to assess the soil fertility attributes of three districts (i.e. Jhansi, Datia and Tikamgarh) of the Bundelkhand region of central India. Soil samples were collected randomly from 0-15 cm soil depth using a soil auger with a diameter of 5 cm and followed the standard protocols for assessing the soil fertility attributes. A total number of samples were 58 (randomly selected sites). The soil reaction was neutral to strongly alkaline (pH 7.28-9.71) in nature.  The electrical conductivity (EC) values were low (0.01- 0.89 dS m-1) indicating that of no harmful effect on crop growth. Most of the soils were found under low category of soil organic carbon (SOC), available nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). The available potassium (K) and sulphur (S) were found in the range between 68.32 to 781.76 kg ha-1 and 7.97 to 273.24 kg ha-1, respectively. With respect to DTPA extractable micronutrients i.e. copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were in sufficient range but boron (B), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) were in low category. Based on the Soil Nutrient Index (SNI), the soils of the study area were found in low fertility status for N and P and medium in SOC and K. The SNI for S was ranging from medium to high fertility category. Thus, SOC, N, P, K, B, Fe and Mn were the key soil fertility constraints in the Jhansi, Datia and Tikamgarh districts of the Bundelkhand region. The balanced use of chemical fertilizers and micronutrients (B, Fe and Mn) based on the soil test results along with the combination of bio-fertilizers and organic manures as an integrated nutrient management (INM) approach could greatly help in maintaining the soil fertility and sustainable crop production in Bundelkhand region of central India.

Solid Earth ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 1063-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Musinguzi ◽  
P. Ebanyat ◽  
J. S. Tenywa ◽  
T. A. Basamba ◽  
M. M. Tenywa ◽  
...  

Abstract. Simple and affordable soil fertility ratings are essential, particularly for the resource-constrained farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in planning and implementing prudent interventions. A study was conducted on Ferralsols in Uganda to evaluate farmer-based soil fertility assessment techniques, hereafter referred to as farmers' field experiences (FFE), for ease of use and precision, against more formal scientific quantitative ratings using soil organic carbon (SQR-SOC). A total of 30 fields were investigated and rated using both techniques, as low, medium and high in terms of soil fertility – with maize as the test crop. Both soil fertility rating techniques were fairly precise in delineating soil fertility classes, though the FFE was inefficient in distinguishing fields > 1.2 % SOC with medium and high fertility. Soil organic carbon, silt and clay were exceptionally influential, accounting for the highest percentage in grain yield of 50 % in the topsoil (0–15 cm) and 67 % for the mean concentrations from 0 to 15 and 15 to 30 cm. Each unit increase in SOC concentration resulted in 966 to 1223 kg ha−1 yield gain. The FFE technique was effective in identifying low-fertility fields, and this was coherent with the fields categorized as low (SOC < 1.2 %). Beyond this level, its precision can be remarkably increased when supplemented with the SQR-SOC technique.


Author(s):  
P. N. Siva Prasad ◽  
C. T. Subbarayappa ◽  
V. Ramamurthy ◽  
A. Sathish

Assessment of land use-induced changes in soil properties is essential for addressing issues of spatial variability in soil fertility and sustainable land productivity. In view of this, a study was conducted to assess the impact of spatial variability on physicochemical properties, macro and micro nutrient status of 75 farmers fields of tomato growing areas of Kolar district, Karnataka. Arc Map with spatial analyst function of Arc GIS software was used to prepare soil fertility maps, which would act as an important tool for soil as well as nutrient management for sustainable crop production by using Global Positioning System coordinates. The results revealed that the soils under investigation were acidic to alkaline in reaction (pH 4.41 to 8.13), mostly non saline and low to high in organic carbon status (0.53 to 1.95%). Available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur content varied from 150.53-348.10, 6.4 - 111.44, 147.18 - 916.61 and 12.29 - 103.8 kg ha-1. Exchangeable Ca, Mg are in the range of 2.5 – 14.2 and 1.2 – 6.6 C mol (p+) kg. The GIS-aided thematic maps with respect to available zinc, 6.67 (low), 21.33 (medium) and 72 (high) per cent samples were categorized, based on the existing critical limits. All the studied samples i.e., 100 per cent were high in copper content, 65.33, 30.67 and 4 per cent samples of Mn, 25.33, 32 and 42.67 per cent samples of Fe, were categorized as low, medium and high in nutrient status respectively. With respect to available boron 16.67 per cent was under low, 38.09 per cent was under medium and 45.24 per cent was under high nutrient status. The nutrient index (NI) of tomato growing areas of Kolar district revealed that N (1.19), manganese (1.39) and iron (1.29) were categorized as low, available boron (2.17) as medium and P (2.65), K (2.71), S (2.65) zinc (2.75), copper (3.0) as high nutrient index category.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 818-835
Author(s):  
Prabhas Kumar Pande ◽  
Rakesh Kumar ◽  
Seema Gupta ◽  
Rajesh Sachdev ◽  
LOVELEEN SATAPATHY4 ◽  
...  

The present study deals with the assessment of soil nutrients at four adjacent villages, 15 km NE of Almora, to understand the soil fertility and suitability of crops to help rejuvenate the agricultural activities in the region which subsequently will be used as a testing ground to mitigate prevailing Human-Wildlife Conflict in the study area. Soil samples were analyzed for textural classification, power of hydrogen (pH), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon percentage (OC%), available Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Sulphur (S), Boron (B), Manganese (Mn), 0.1M Hydrochloric Acid (HCl), and Diethylene Triamine Pentaacetic Acid (DTPA) extractable, Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), and Copper (Cu) to examine the soil fertility of the area. The soils of the region vary from loam to sandy loam. The soil reaction varies from slight to extremely acidic whereas the salinity was varying from non-saline to slightly saline. Low soil fertility index of N, P, K, Zn, B, and Fe; and medium soil fertility index of S, Mn, and Cu were observed, which is suggestive of additional requirement of Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and fertilizers to make them suitable for plantation. Through this study, an attempt has been made to recommend the selection and cultivation of high yield indigenous cash crops with the support of bio-fertilizers to maximize the use and production of these fallow lands and enhance the agricultural activities in the region and provide better livelihood options. The shift from the traditional method of plowing and sowing to new basic techniques has brought about encouraging results to the extent that these fields have now become favorite destinations of wild boars and monkeys. Hence, allowing us to mitigate this problem through various means.


1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (72) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
RM Jones

An experiment was sown at two contrasting sites in south-east Queensland to study the response of tropical pasture species in the establishment and second year to treatments imposed during the establishment year. Sowing was into fully prepared seed-beds on a nitrogen deficient low humic gley at Beerwah and a fertile prairie soil at Samford. Limiting nutrients, other than nitrogen, were supplied by fertilizer. The treatments were: two pastures (Macroptilium atropurpureum cv. Siratro/Setaria anceps and Desmodium intortum cv. Greenleaf/setaria anceps), three legume seeding rates, two defoliation systems in the establishment year, and presence or absence of severe annual grass weed competition. In the establishment year there were large treatment effects on the yields of sown pasture species. Sown weeds had a great effect, particularly on the high fertility site where they reduced setaria, desmodium and siratro yields by factors of approximately 50, 10 and 2 respectively. Legume yields increased with legume seeding rates. The sum of legume yields from the regularly cut treatments was only one-half to one-quarter that of the single end of season cut, whereas total grass yields were similar in both treatments. However, all first year treatments had much less effect in the second year, when legumes comprised about 70 per cent of mixtures at the low fertility site and 30 per cent of mixtures at the high fertility site. Some comments are made about this role of soil fertility in the dynamics of pasture establishment and about future lines of research. Results from this and other experiments suggest that pasture establishment problems on fully prepared seed-beds are not a major limitation to the wider use of tropical pastures in south-eastern Queensland.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5332
Author(s):  
Dianpeng Li ◽  
Jianqin Zhou ◽  
Yuxin Zhang ◽  
Tao Sun ◽  
Shuqing An ◽  
...  

In arid regions, decreased soil fertility has adversely affected agricultural sustainability. The effects of different amendments in alleviating these issues and increasing soil fertility remain unclear. Herein, a two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the properties of grey desert soil and soil respiration (SR) dynamics under six different treatment groups: biochar (BC), leonardite (LD), anionic polyacrylamide (PAM−), cationic polyacrylamide (PAM+) powder, anionic polyacrylamide solution in water (PAM−W), and control (CK). We observed that the BC and LD amendments significantly altered soil pH, organic matter, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, and SR. PAM amendment increased the SR as compared to the control, except in autumn, but PAM did not affect the soil properties. SR under different amendments showed strong seasonal patterns, the highest and lowest SR rates were observed in June and January, respectively. Amendments and seasonal dynamics significantly affected SR, but no interaction was observed between these factors. Temporal variation of SR was substantially influenced by soil temperature at 15 cm of soil depth. Temperature sensitivity of SR (Q10) increased with soil depth and decreased with amendment addition. SR was significantly affected by soil temperature, moisture, air temperature, and their interactions. The outcomes of this study suggested that the BC and LD amendments improved soil fertility and negated the net carbon accumulation by increasing the SR and Q10 in arid agriculture soil.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 604
Author(s):  
Yueting Wu ◽  
Xiaolei Qiu ◽  
Ke Zhang ◽  
Zhiliang Chen ◽  
Alexis Pang ◽  
...  

Sowing and transplanting dates are important cultivation factors for rice production. Therefore, the present study focused on developing a rice model system that would be able to determine sowing and transplanting dates for diverse cultivars and planting methods in different agro-ecological zones. Different model parameters were integrated into a rice model system on the basis of their interaction effects in this study. The results showed that sowing and transplanting dates designed by the rice model system were approached to the planting dates recommended by local agricultural experts for high yield practices, with root mean squared error (RMSE) of 5.3 to 14.74 days. The model system accurately simulated suitable sowing and transplanting dates under most scenarios with relatively low RMSE, high linear correlation coefficient (R2), and model efficiency (EF). Using the model system recommendations, rice yield under manual transplanting in low fertility soil was increased the most (5.5%), while for direct sowing in high fertility soil, yield increase was modest (0.8%). The newly-developed rice model system can act as a technical approach to design suitable sowing and transplanting dates for achieving high yield and effective crop production.


Author(s):  
T. Pandiaraj ◽  
Susmita Das ◽  
Manjappa . ◽  
Alok Sahay

This study was conducted to evaluate soil fertility status in the fourteen major tasar sericulture adopting villages in Purulia District, West Bengal. For this, a total of 160 surface soil samples (0-30 cm) were collected from dominant tasar sericulture villages along with the details regarding farmer’s name, soil type, host plants details, etc. The collected samples were air dried, sieved and analysed for various soil fertility parameters such as pH, EC, organic carbon, macro and micronutrients. The data on various parameters were categorized into low, medium and high classes based on soil fertility ratings and nutrient index was calculated. Results revealed that soil reaction in the study area varied from strongly acidic to moderately acidic with saline free soil. The available nitrogen was low level in all the tasar host plant growing regions. In all the study regions, medium range of available phosphorus, potassium and sulphur was observed. All the micronutrients were high in the study villages. Regard NIV, all the macronutrients except nitrogen showed medium nutrient index in most places. Fertility rate of available micro nutrients were high index in all the tasar growing villages.


1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 1011-1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHREE P. SINGH ◽  
CARLOS A. URREA ◽  
J. ARIEL GUTIERREZ ◽  
JAMES GARCIA

Selection for seed yield (visual in the F2, visual and plot yield from the F3 to F5, and yield tests in F6) was carried out in two crosses of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in high and low soil fertility environments at CIAT-Quilichao, Colombia. Parents were small-seeded and tolerant to low soil phosphorus, possessed indeterminate bush growth habit, and belonged to lowland tropical gene pools of Middle America. The mean yield of selected lines from low (LFS) and high (HFS) soil fertility environments was significantly higher than the mean of the parents in both crosses when tested in high fertility (HF) but not in low fertility (LF). The highest yielding LFS and HFS lines from A 286 × (G 5059 × A 80) and the LFS line from A 286 × ICA Pijao outyielded the best check cultivar, Carioca, in HF. No line yielded significantly more than A 286, the best parent used in both crosses. The mean effect of fertilizer levels on selection for seed yield was nonsignificant. Lines selected under two environments showed similar but average response and high stability of performance under variable environments. Low soil fertility accelerated maturity and reduced 100-seed weight and seed yield.Key words: Phaseolus vulgaris, bean (small-seeded common), selection for yield, soil fertility, Middle American gene pools, regression coefficient


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (01) ◽  
pp. 76-80
Author(s):  
Ravindra Kumar ◽  
Manoj Singh ◽  
A. K. Mishra ◽  
Reshu Singh ◽  
N. C. Tripathi

Soil is one of the most important vital natural resource, defends the life supporting system of a country and socio-economic development of its people. More than ever before, a renewed attention is being given to soil due to rapid declining land area for agriculture, declining soil fertility and increasing soil degradation, wrong land policies and imbalance use of inputs (Kanwar, 2004). All the above factors call for a paradigm shift in research away from maximum crop production to the sustainability of crop production system without degradation of soil health and environmental quality. Soils differ greatly in their morphological, physical, chemical and biological characteristics. Since these characteristics affect the response of soil to management practices it is necessary to have information about these characteristics of each category of soil. Soil fertility is one of the important factors controlling yields of the crops. Within a soil, nutrient variability exists depending upon the hydrological properties of the soil and cropping system. In the present study 366 soil samples were collected from 21 gram panchayats and were analyzed. The soil samples were collected from rice-wheat cropping sequence. Analysis of soil samples revealed that 82 per cent samples were medium in organic matter content, 100 per cent soil samples were deficient in available nitrogen, while 92 per cent P and 100 per cent K samples were in medium range respectively. Among the micronutrients tested copper and iron were in sufficient range while manganese and zinc were deficient in soil.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1237-1261
Author(s):  
P. Musinguzi ◽  
P. Ebanyat ◽  
J. S. Tenywa ◽  
T. A. Basamba ◽  
M. M. Tenywa ◽  
...  

Abstract. Simple and affordable soil fertility ratings are essential, particularly for the resource-constrained farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in planning and implementing prudent interventions. A study was conducted on Ferralsols in Uganda, to evaluate farmer-field-based soil fertility assessment procedures, hereafter referred to as farmer' field experiences (FFE), for ease of use (simplicity) and precision, against more formal scientific quantitative ratings using soil organic carbon (SQR-SOC). A total of 30 fields were investigated and rated using both approaches, as low, medium and high in terms of soil fertility, with maize as the test crop. Based on maize yield, both rating techniques were fairly precise in delineating soil fertility classes, though the FFE approach showed mixed responses. Soil organic carbon in the top soil (0–15 cm) was exceptionally influential, explaining > 70% in yield variance. Each unit rise in SOC concentration resulted in 966–1223 kg ha−1 yield gain. The FFE approach was effective in identifying low fertility fields, which was coherent with the fields categorized as low (SOC < 1.2%). Beyond this level, its precision can be remarkably increased when supplemented with the SOC procedure.


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