Evaluation of soil fertility status of Regional Agricultural Research Station, Tarahara, Sunsari, Nepal

Soil fertility evaluation of an area or region is most basic decision making tool for the sustainable soil nutrient management. In order to evaluate the soil fertility status of the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Tarahara, Susari, Nepal. Using soil sampling auger 81 soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected based on the variability of land. The collected samples were analyzed for their texture, structure, colour, pH, OM, N, P2O5, K2O, Ca, Mg, S, B, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn status. The Arc-GIS 10.1 software was used for the preparation of soil fertility maps. The soil structure was granular to sub-angular blocky and varied between brown- dark grayish brown and dark gray in colour. The sand, silt and clay content were 30.32±1.4%, 48.92±0.89% and 20.76±0.92%, respectively and categorized as loam, clay loam, sandy loam, silt loam and silty clay loam in texture. The soil was moderately acidic in pH (5.98±0.08). The available sulphur (2.15±0.21 ppm), available boron (0.08±0.01 ppm) and available zinc (0.35±0.03 ppm) status were very low, whereas extractable magnesium (44.33±6.03 ppm) showed low status. Similarly, organic matter (2.80±0.07%), total nitrogen (0.09±0.004 %), extractable calcium (1827.90±45.80 ppm) and available copper (1.15±0.04 ppm) were medium in content. The available phosphorus (39.77±5.27 ppm), extractable potassium (134.12±4.91 ppm), and available manganese (18.15±1.15 ppm) exhibits high status, while available iron (244.7±19.70 ppm) was very high. The fertilizer recommendation can be done based on determined soil fertility status to economize crop production. Furthermore, research farm should develop future research strategy accordance with the prepared soil data base.

___

  • Aweto A.O., 1982. Variability of upper slope soils developed under sandstones in South-western Nigeria. Georgian Journal 25:27-37.
  • Berger, K.C., Truog, E., 1939. Boron determination in soils and plants. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Analytical Edition 11(10): 540-545.
  • Bouyoucos, G.J., 1962. Hydrometer method improved for making particle size analyses of soils. Agronomy Journal 54(5): 464-465.
  • Brady, N.C., Weil, R.R. 2002. The nature and properties of soils. 13th edition. Pearson Education, New Jersey.
  • Bremner, J.M., Mulvaney, C.S., 1982. Nitrogen total. In: Methods of soil analysis. Part 2 Chemical and microbiological properties. 2nd edition. Page, A.L. (Ed.). American Society of Agronomy, No. 9, Madison, WI, USA. pp. 595-624.
  • Burnell, J.N., 1988. The biochemistry of manganese in plants. In: Manganese in Soils and Plants. Graham, R.D., Hannam, R.J., Uren, N.C., (Eds.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. pp. 125–137.
  • Burrough, P.A., McDonnell, R.A., 1998. Principle of geographic information systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  • Cambardella, C.A., Karlen, D.L., 1999. Spatial analysis of soil fertility parameters. Precision Agriculture 1(1): 5-14.
  • Das, D.K., 2000. Micronutrients: their behavior in soils and plants. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi. India. 307p.
  • Deshmukh, K.K., 2012. Studies on chemical characteristics and classification of soils from Sangamner area, Ahmadnagar District, Maharastra. Rasayan Journal of Chemistry 5(1):74-85.
  • El Mahi, Y.E., Ibrahim, I.S., Abdel Magid, H.M., Eltilib, A.M.A., 1987. A simple method for the estimation of calcium and magnesium carbonates in soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 51(5): 1152-1155.
  • Fageria, N.K., Santos, A.B., Filho, M.P., Guimaries, C.M., 2008. Iron toxicity in lowland rice. Journal of Plant Nutrition 31(9): 1676-1697.
  • Flores-Magdaleno, H., Mancilla-Villa, O.R., Mejia-Saenz, E., Olmedo-Bolantilde, M.D.C., Bautista-Olivas, A.L., 2011. Heavy metals In agricultural soils and Irrigation wastewater of Mixquiahuala, Hidalgo, Mexico. African Journal of Agriculture Research 6(24): 5505-5511.
  • Foth, H.D., 1990. Fundamentals of soil science. 8th edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA. 360p.
  • Havlin, H.L., Beaton, J.D., Tisdale, S. L., Nelson, W.L., 2010. Soil fertility and fertilizers - An introduction to nutrient management. 7th edition. PHI Learning Private Limited, New Delhi, India. 516p.
  • Jackson, M.L., 1973. Soil chemical analysis (Indian Edition). Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India.
  • Johnston, A.E., 1986. Soil organic matter, effects on soils and crops. Soil Use and Management 2(3): 97-105.
  • Joshy, D., Deo, G.P., 1976. Fertilizers Recommendations for Major crops of Nepal. Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Department of Agriculture, HMG/Nepal.
  • Khadka, D., Lamichhane, S., Thapa, B., Rawal, N., Chalise, D.R., Vista, S.P., Lakhe, L., 2015. Assessment of soil fertility status and preparation of their maps of national wheat research program, Bhairahawa, Nepal. In: Proceedings of the Second National Soil Fertility Research Workshop. K.B. Karki, B.P. Tripathi, R. Manandhar, B.H. Adhikari, S.P. Vista (Eds.). March 24-25, 2015. Soil Science Division, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal. pp. 330-340.
  • Khadka, D., Lamichhane, S., Thapa, B., Baral, B.R., Adhikari, P., 2016a. An assessment of soil fertility status of national maize research program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research 2(5):1798-1807.
  • Khadka, D., Lamichhane, S., Shrestha S., Pant, B.B., 2016b. Assessment of soil physico-chemical properties of sugarcane research program, Jitpur, Bara, Nepal. International Journal of Advanced Research 4(5): 56-66.
  • Khadka, D., Lamichhane, S., Malla, R., Joshi, S., 2016c. Assessment of soil fertility status of oilseed research program, Nawalpur, Sarlahi, Nepal. International Journal of Advanced Research 4(6): 1472-1483.
  • Khadka, D., Lamichhane, S., Khan, S., Joshi, S., Pant, B., 2016d. Assessment of soil fertility status of Agriculture Research Station, Belachapi, Dhanusha, Nepal. Journal of Maize Research and Development 2(1): 43-57.
  • Khadka, D., Lamichhane, S., Tiwari, D.N., Mishra, K., 2017. Assessment of soil fertility status of National Rice Research Program, Hardinath, Dhanusha, Nepal. International Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Research 3(1): 86-105.
  • Lecourieux, D., Ranjeva, R., Pugin, A., 2006. Calcium in plant defence‐signalling pathways. New Phytologist 171(2): 249-269.
  • Lindsay, W.L., Norvell, W.A., 1978. Development of a DTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. Soil Science Society of America Journal 42(3): 421-428.
  • Olsen, S.R., Cole, C.V., Watanabe, F.S., Dean, L.A., 1954. Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Circular No 939, USA, 19p.
  • Rai, S., Chopra, A.K., Chakresh, P., Dinesh, K., Renu, S., Gupta, P.M., 2012. Comparative study of some physicochemical parameters of soil irrigated with sewage water and canal water of Dehradun city. Archives of Applied Science Research 3(3): 318 – 325.
  • Rakesh, K., Rakesh, K.U.S., Brijesh, Y., 2012. Vertical distribution of physico-chemical properties under different topo-sequence in soils of Jharkhand. Journal of Agricultural Physics 12 (1):63- 69.
  • Ramamoorthy, B., Bajaj, J.C., 1969. Available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium status of Indian soils. Fertilizer News 14: 25-36.
  • Sumithra, S., Ankalaiah, C., Rao, D., Yamuna, R.T., 2013. A case study on physico – chemical characteristics of soil around industrial and agricultural area of yerraguntla, Kadapa district, A. P, India. International Journal of Geological Earth and Environment Science 3(2): 28-34.
  • Takahashi, H., Kopriva, S., Giordano, M., Saito, K., Hell, R., 2011. Sulfur assimilation in photosynthetic organisms: molecular functions and regulations of transporters and assimilatory enzymes. Annual Review of Plant Biology 62: 157-184.
  • Tanoi, K., Kobayashi, N.I., 2015. Review: leaf senescence by magnesium deficiency. Plants 4(4): 756-772.
  • Verma, B.C., 1977. An improved turbidimetric procedure for the determination of sulphate in plants and soils. Talanta 24(1): 49-50.
  • Vishal, D.J., Narahari, N.P., Punit, R.R., 2009. Physico-chemical properties of four farm site soils in area surrounding Rajkot, Gujarat, India. International Journal of Chemical Technical Research 1(3): 709-713.
  • Walkley, A.J., Black, I.A., 1934. Estimation of soil organic carbon by the chromic acid titration method. Soil Science 37(1): 29-38.