Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 18(3): 241-245, July-September 2019 ISSN: 022-457X (Print); 2455-7145 (Online); DOI: 10.5958/2455-7145.2019.00034.1 Status of available major and micro nutrients in soils of Kelapur block, Yavatmal district, Maharashtra ABHISHEK JANGIR1*, R.P. SHARMA2, G. TIWARI1, D. VASU1, S. CHATTARAJ1, B. DASH1, L.C. MALAV1, P. CHANDRAN3, S.K. SINGH4, H. KUCHANKAR5 and S. SHEIKH6 Received: 21 June 2019; Accepted: 25 August 2019 ABSTRACT The study was conducted to evaluate the major and micronutrient status of Kelapur block, Yavatmal district, Maharashtra. A total of 3436 soil samples were collected by gird method (325×325 interval) at a depth of 0-15 cm and analyzed for soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), available nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulphur (S) and micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn). Soils were neutral to slightly alkaline (pH 6.6 - 8.8) and non-saline (EC <1 dSm-1). OC was medium to high with a mean value of 0.83%. Among the nutrients, available N was invariably deficient (100%) and deficiency of available Zn (70%), S (59.7%), P (37.6%) and Fe (27.9%) were observed. The available K was generally high with a mean of 694 kg ha-1 and Mn and Cu were sufficient. Coefficient of variation (CV) indicated that P, K, S, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu varied highly (CV > 35%) whereas the variability of pH and N was low (CV < 15%). The nutrient index value (NIV) for N and S were low (1.0 and 1.5), medium for P (1.89) and high (2.86) for K. The generated nutrient status information can serve as an effective tool for farmers and policy makers in adoption of site specific nutrient management practices. Key words: Primary nutrients, Secondary nutrients, Micronutrients, Yavatmal, Nutrient index, Semiarid tropical region INTRODUCTION Nutrient imbalance is one of the main constraint in crop production and productivity enhancement in semi-arid tropical (SAT) regions of India. The estimation of soil fertility encompasses the measurement of available macro and micronutrients and evaluation of capacity of soil to maintain and supply nutrients to plants (Deshmukh, 2012). Unlike the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), agricultural intensity in the SAT region of India is low due to predominance of rainfed farming and therefore there is a need to effectively manage the soils to meet the increasing demand for food. Low organic carbon coupled with the deficiency of essential nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sulphur (S) and zinc (Zn) in SAT soils is the major limitation factor for crop production. It was estimated that the soils of states in the SAT region are deficiency in N (11-76%), P (21-74%), S (46-96 %) and Zn (62%) (Sahrawat and Wani, 2013). Hence, the information related to nutrient limitations and their suitable management has greater significance to better crop production and sustainable development of agriculture. Soil 1 test based nutrient management, crop rotation, scientific application of chemical and bio-fertilizers are the need of the hour to maintain soil quality and improve the productivity (Kumar et al., 2014). Evaluation of farm level fertility status of soil provides the necessary information on nutrient status which can help the farmers to apply need based on crop and soil requirement of a particular area. In the present study, we evaluated the nutrient status of Kelapur block comprising140 villages from Yavatmal district, Maharashtra. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Area The study area, Kelapur block (19°47′30′′ to 20°15′22′′ N latitude and 78°24′10′′ to 78°41′49′′ E longitude) (Fig. 1) is situated in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, India and comes under agroecological region (AER) 7. It comprises of 140 villages, and covers an area of 81962 ha. The cropping intensity of cultivated area is 101.4%. The major crops grown during south west monsoon are cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), pigeon pea (Cajans cajan), soybean (Glycine max) and sorghum Scientist, 2Senior Scientist, 3Principal Scientist & Head, 4Director, 5Senior Research Fellow, 6Junior Research Fellow, ICARNational Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur-440 033, Maharashtra *Corresponding author Email id: abhishekjangir1988@gmail.com 242 JANGIR et al. (Sorghum bicolor). In winter season wheat (Triticum aestivum) and chick pea (Cicer arietinum) are the major crops. The agro-climate is characterized by hot and moist summers with mild and dry winters having 120 to 150 days length of growing period with ustic soil moisture regime and hyperthermic soil temperature regime. The mean annual rainfall (MAR) is 1052mm with 56 average rainy days which mostly occurs during southwest monsoon. Soil sampling and analysis A total of 3436 georeferenced surface soil samples (0-15 cm depth) were collected after the harvest of crops with a grid interval of 325 × 325m (Fig. 1) according to operational guidelines given by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India for rainfed areas (DoAC, 2014). The samples were properly labelled, air dried and processed for analysis of soil parameters. The soil properties (pH, EC, OC) and available macronutrients (N, P, K and S) were determined by standard procedures ( Jackson, 1973). Soil organic carbon was estimated by wet oxidation method. Available nitrogen (N) was estimated by alkaline permanganate method. Soil available phosphorus (P) was determined using sodium bicarbonate (0.5N NaHCO3) extractant at pH 8.5, available potassium (K) was extracted by neutral normal ammonium acetate and measured on flamephotometer. Available sulphur (S) was extracted by 0.15% calcium chloride and turbidity was measured. Available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) were extracted by DTPA extractant (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978) and determined in Inductively Coupled Plasma- Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 18(3) Descriptive statistics viz., mean, median, maximum, minimum, standard deviation, coefficient of variation (CV) and skewness were determined using SPSS 16.0 version. Soil parameters were classified into least (CV < 15%), moderate (CV 15-35%) and high (CV >35%) variable classes based on CV (Wilding, 1985). Nutrient Index was calculated by Parker’s index method (Parker et al., 1951) after the classification of soil samples on the basis of soil test values of different nutrients in three categories viz., low, medium and high. Parker’s Nutrient index was calculated as per the following equation. Nutrient Index = (NL × 1 + NM × 2 + NH × 3) / NT where, NL, NM and NH are the number of samples in low, medium and high fertility classes of nutrient status, respectively and NT is the total number of samples. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Descriptive Statistics and Variability of Soil Parameters The descriptive statistics of soil parameters were analysed and presented in Table 1. Available phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, iron, manganese, zinc and copper were highly variable and organic carbon was moderately variable whereas pH and available nitrogen were the least variable properties (Table 1). Similar to this study, Prabhavati et al. (2015) also recorded high CV for micronutrients (62.20%, 44.62%, 59.38% and 22.22% for Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn, respectively) and Vasu et al. (2017) reported 92.90% CV for sulphur. Desavathu et al. (2017) observed CV value for pH (10.22%), EC (86.96%), OC (37.73%), P (97.82%) and K (43.48%) in soils of Paderu Mandal, Visakhapatnam district of AndhraPradesh. Least CV values for pH (0.25%) and nitrogen (0.32%) were also observed by Patil et al. (2011). Soil Reaction (pH) and Electrical Conductivity (EC) Fig. 1. Location map and adopted grid sampling scheme of study area Soil pH directly influences the nutrient availability in soils. The pH in the study area varied from 6.6 (neutral) to 8.8 (moderately alkaline), with a mean and median of 7.9 and 8.1, respectively (Table 1). Out of the total samples, 77% samples are slightly alkaline, 21% are neutral and 2% are moderately alkaline in reaction (Table 2). The variation in pH could be attributed to the nature of parent material, geomorphic position, type of fertilizer and management practices. Moreover, the higher pH in these soils could be attributed to the precipitation of CaCO3 in surface soil due to higher evapo-transpiration (Pal et al., 2014). The EC is <1.0 July-September 2019] STATUS OF AVAILABLE MAJOR AND MICRONUTRIENTS IN SOILS 243 Table 1. Descriptive statistics of soil parameters (Data size- 3436) Parameters Mean Median Minimum Maximum Std. Deviation Skewness CV (%) pH EC (dSm-1) OC (%) Av N (kg ha-1) Av P (kg ha-1) Av K (kg ha-1) S (kg ha-1) Fe (mg kg-1) Mn (mg kg-1) Zn (mg kg-1) Cu (mg kg-1) 7.9 0.25 0.83 119.3 16.5 694.2 10.0 9.0 15.2 0.6 3.4 8.1 0.23 0.84 119.2 13.9 601.8 8.3 7.5 11.8 0.5 3.2 6.6 0.01 0.20 50.2 0.7 47.6 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.2 8.8 0.98 1.50 197.6 50.4 1497.5 59.6 46.3 60.0 8.1 10.0 0.5 0.13 0.27 9.7 11.6 329.5 7.8 6.3 11.8 0.4 1.6 -1.0 1.32 0.06 0.5 0.8 0.5 1.7 1.3 1.4 4.7 0.9 5.8 52.4 32.8 8.1 70.6 47.5 77.5 70.3 77.5 73.7 47.3 dSm-1 indicating that the soils in the study area are non-saline (Table 1). Similar results were reported in black soil region of Andhra Pradesh (Desavathu et al., 2017), Gujarat (Sharma et al., 2018) and Maharashtra (Naitam et al., 2018). Organic Carbon (OC) The OC content varied from 0.20 to 1.50% with mean value of 0.83% and about 60% soils were high in OC whereas ~12% soils had low OC (Table 2). Singh et al. (2016) also reported high OC content in surface soils of Boolpur Taluka of Kapurthala district. Low OC in Kelapur soils could be attributed to high decomposition rate of organic matter due to high temperature and erosion of top soils. The high OC content is due to intensive management practices such as incorporation of crop residues and application of farmyard manure and organic manures (Sharma et al., 2009). On the basis of long term fertility experiment on rice-wheat cropping system, Ladha (2003) observed that the OC status remains unchanged for the last 25-30 years and according to Bhattacharya et al. (2007) the soil organic carbon stock increased in last 25 years (1980- 2005) in the Indo-Gangetic plains and the black soil region of SAT. They proved that the SOC status of soil can be maintained by applying suitable agricultural management practices. Available Macronutrients (N, P, K & S) The available nitrogen was deficient (<280 kg in all the samples (Table 2) of Kelapur block and it varied from 50.2 to 197.6 kg ha-1with mean value 119.3 kg ha-1 (Table 1). Vasu et al. (2017) also observed that about 96% area of Thimmajipet Mandal, Mahabubnagar district, Telangana was deficient in nitrogen. Low N content in soils was mainly due to its low addition, higher mobility and ha-1) Table 2. Frequency distribution of soil parameters Parameters Class Rating No of samples % of total samples pH Neutral Slightly alkaline Moderately alkaline 6.5-7.5 7.5-8.5 8.5-9.5 712 2647 77 21.0 77.0 2.0 Organic Carbon (%) Low Medium High < 0.50 0.50-0.75 > 0.75 405 969 2062 11.8 28.2 60.0 Available Nitrogen (kg ha-1) Low Medium High < 280 280-560 > 560 3436 0 0 100 0.0 0.0 Available Phosphorus (kg ha-1) Low Medium High < 11 11-22 > 22 1291 1235 910 37.6 35.9 26.5 Available Potassium (kg ha-1) Low Medium High < 140 140-336 > 336 34 402 3000 1.0 11.7 87.3 Available Sulphur (kg ha-1) Low Medium High < 10.0 10.0-20.0 > 20.0 2050 1037 349 59.7 30.2 10.2 Source: Vasu et al. (2016) 244 JANGIR et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 18(3) Table 3. Frequency distribution of micronutrients (mg kg-1) Micronutrient Class Rating No of samples % of total samples Iron (Fe) Deficient Sufficient ≤ 4.5 > 4.5 960 2476 27.9 72.1 Manganese (Mn) Deficient Sufficient ≤1.0 > 1.0 16 3420 0.5 99.5 Zinc (Zn) Deficient Sufficient ≤ 0.6 > 0.6 2400 1036 69.9 30.1 Copper (Cu) Deficient Sufficient ≤0.2 > 0.2 2 3434 0.1 99.9 losses through ammonia volatilization, leaching and runoff, denitrification, microbial and chemical fixation (De Datta and Buresh, 1989). Available phosphorus (P) varied from 0.7 to 50.4 kg ha-1 with mean value of 16.5 kg ha-1 (Table 1). Results indicate that about 37.6% of the soils were low, 35.9% soils were medium and 26.5% soils were high in P content (Table 2). Desavathu et al. (2017) also reported similar result. The low P availability in these soils may be attributed to their low P status (inherent), fixation with sesquioxides (Fe and Al oxides and hydroxides) and formation of calcium phosphate in calcareous soils (Meena et al., 2006; Bhattacharyya et al., 2007). Available potassium was high (>336 kg ha-1) in 87.3% soils and medium (140 -336 kg ha-1) in 11.7% soils (Table 2) that ranged between 47.6 and 1497.5 kg ha-1 with an average of 694.2 kg ha-1 (Table 1). Patil et al. (2011) also recorded high available K in soils Navalgund taluka of Karnataka. This high level of available K in Kelapur taluka may be due to the presence of potassium rich parent material and clay minerals biotite and smectite in the soils and dissolution of K bearing minerals under alkaline conditions (Patil and Sonar, 1993). An available S varied from 0.1 to 59.6 kg ha-1 with mean value of 10.0 kg ha-1 (Table 1). It was low to medium in Kelapur block. About 59.7% of soils had low S (<10kg ha-1), 30.2% medium (10-20 kg ha-1) and 10.2% high S content (>20 kg ha-1) (Table 2). The poor availability of S was due to low OM (Kumar et al., 2014) and adsorption by calcium carbonate. Moreover, as farmers mostly apply NPK fertilizers, S is not replenished in the soils after plant uptake which causes its deficiency. Available Micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu & Zn) The available Zn and Fe content in Kelapur soils varied from 0.1-8.1 and 0.2- 46.3 mg kg-1 with an average of 0.6 and 9.0 mg kg-1, respectively (Table 1). Nearly 70 and 28% of the soils were deficient in Table 4. Nutrient Index value of soil parameters Parameters Organic Carbon Available Nitrogen Available Phosphorus Available Potassium Available Sulphur Parker index Class/remark 2.48 1.00 1.89 2.86 1.50 High Low Medium High Low available Zn and Fe content, respectively (Table 3). Sahrawat and Wani (2013) reported that 69% soils in Andhra Pradesh, 66% soils in Madhya Pradesh, 61% soils in Karnataka and 40% soils in Rajasthan were deficient in zinc. The study area does not show the deficiency of available Cu (varied from 0.2–10.0 mg kg-1) and Mn (varied from 0.5–60.0 mg kg-1) (Table 1&4). Similar to this study, Prabhavati et al. (2015) observed that the soils of Yadawad, Hukkeri and Khanapur micro-watersheds of Belgaum district, Karnataka under different agro-climatic conditions were sufficient in Mn and Cu content but in Khanapur micro-watershed, 22.6% area is showed Cu deficiency. Sharma et al. (2003) reported similar results in soils of Nagaur district of Rajasthan. Soil Nutrient Indices Parker’s nutrient index was used to compare the level of soil fertility in the study area as it is the measure of nutrient supplying capacity of soils. The nutrient index value (NIV) of organic carbon (2.48) and available potassium (2.86) were high in Kelapur block. NIV of P was medium (1.89) while N and S were low with values of 1.00 and 1.50, respectively (Table 4). Pathak (2010) also reported similar results while assessing temporal soil fertility changes in Maharashtra. CONCLUSION The study indicated that the soils of Kelapur block are neutral to slightly alkaline in reaction with safe limit of soluble salt content. The OC was medium to high and low in available N. The area July-September 2019] STATUS OF AVAILABLE MAJOR AND MICRONUTRIENTS IN SOILS showed low to medium in available P and S and high in available K content. The DTPA extractable Zn and Fe was deficient and Mn and Cu were sufficient in the area. The NIV for N and S were low, medium for P and high for K. 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