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

Year 2017, Volume: 6 Issue: 4, 295 - 306, 01.10.2017

Dinesh Khadka Sushil Lamichhane Shukra R. Shrestha Buddhi B. Pant

https://doi.org/10.18393/ejss.303512

Cited By: 3

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Macronutrients, micronutrients, research strategy, soil fertility maps, soil variation

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