Assessment of Soil Fertility Status under Different Cropping Sequences in District Kapurthala

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to assess the fertility status of soil put under various cropping sequences followed in different villages of different blocks in the district. Seven villages namely Bhagwanpur, Bhetan, Boolpur, Kheeranwali, Khukrain, Meripur and Swal, falling under three blocks namely Dhilwan, Kapurthala and Sultanpur were selected. The soil samples were taken from 0–15 cm depth with the help of auger after the harvesting of the rabi crops during 2014–15, using the GPS locations. The pH values of soils in all the villages varied from neutral to strongly alkaline (6.79 to 9.87). The pH of all the soil samples of Bhagwanpur and Bhetan villages was neutral to slightly alkaline in nature ( 9.3) followed by Kheeranwali village (15%). The salinity hazard does not exist in village Bhagwanpur, Meripur and Bhetan, however, 42 and 36 per cent samples in village Khukrain and Boolpur showed higher salinity level, respectively. The mean value of EC in Boolpur was 0.76ds/m with a range varying from 0.3 to 1.9ds/m. It was found that organic carbon (OC) status of majority of samples ranged between low to medium. In light textured soils, 54 per cent of samples of Bhetan were found to contain low OC content whereas the soils of Boolpur were found to be rich in OC ranging from 0.32 to 1.07 per cent with mean value of 0.64 per cent and only 12 per cent of samples were under low OC category. The mean values of available phosphorus were 16.7 to 24.2 kg/ha in soil samples of all the villages. The high status of available potassium was found in Khukrain village (92%) followed by Bhagwanpur (72%), Kheeranwali (55%), Swal and Bhetan (45%) and Boolpur (44%). It was interested to note that highest available phosphorus content was found in the soil under potato based cropping sequence due to excessive phosphatic fertilizers application as compared to recommendations of research institutes. However, contrast trends were obtained in case of available potassium status because uptake of potassium was low in paddy-wheat cropping sequence as compared to vegetable and potato based cropping sequence. The OC and available phosphorus exhibited a positive correlation with cropping intensity due to application of higher inorganic fertilizers and incorporation of plant biomass as compared to paddywheat cropping sequence. On the other hand, pH, EC and available potassium showed a decreasing trend with the increased crop intensity from paddy-wheat to paddy-potato/vegetable-summer crop.