ASSESSMENT OF SOILS FERTILITY STATUS IN KUMAON HIMALAYAS USING GIS TECHNIQUE

J.N. SURYA¹*, C.S. WALIA², H. SINGH³, V. GOYAL⁴, R.P. DHANKAR⁵, J.P. SHARMA⁶, D. SARKAR^7
1ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Delhi, IARI Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India
²ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Delhi, IARI Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India
³ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Delhi, IARI Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India
⁴Department of Soil Science, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, 125001, Haryana, India
⁵ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Delhi, IARI Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India
⁶ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Delhi, IARI Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India
⁷ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur, 440033, India
* Corresponding Author : jayansurya@yahoo.com

Received : 17-03-2020     Accepted : 10-04-2020     Published : 30-04-2020
Volume : 12     Issue : 4       Pages : 1811 - 1815
Int J Microbiol Res 12.4 (2020):1811-1815

Keywords : Soil fertility status, Macro and micronutrients, Multi-nutrient deficiencies, GIS, Kumaon Himalayas
Academic Editor : R G Khade,T. A. Kadhim
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to DST (Govt. of India), New Delhi for financial assistance and ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Delhi, New Delhi, 110012, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

Nutrient deficiencies have become one of the major constraints in sustaining crop production in the Himalayan ecosystem, particularly in Kumaon Himalayas which are highly prone for severe erosion and land degradation. Hence, study was conducted to assess the soil fertility status of Kumaon Himalayan region in grid-based analysis of surface soil samples collected by using systematic sampling methodology using GPS points. The soils of this region were predominantly gravely loamy sand to sandy loam in texture with medium to slightly acidic in reaction (61 %) and high in organic carbon content. Soil fertility assessment showed the soils of Kumaon hills region, majority of soils are low in available P (52%), medium in available K (79%), low in available sulphur (64%) content. The DTPA extractable micronutrients such as Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu content were varied from medium to high, relatively high in available zinc (52%), copper (88 %) and adequate in of available iron and magnesium content. So, soils will respond to application of fertilizers containing phosphorus, sulphur, zinc and manures. The maps of various nutrient elements clearly indicated the specific locales, where deficiency of nutrients constrained crop production Soil fertility maps generated in GIS will serve as a base line for predicting the deficiencies. Delineation of site-specific soil nutrient status, multi-nutrient (NPK) analysis suggested that balance fertilization based on soil tests need to be followed for higher productivity and would be of high significance to manage soil health, to help the farmers to make more informed decisions to increase the productivity and to improve their livelihood security.

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