Assessment of Soil Fertility through GIS Techniques and Thematic Mapping in Rice Growing Areas of Jagtial District in Telangana State, India

Abstract

Survey was conducted in Jagtial district of Telangana state to identify the soil fertility status of rice growing areas. Soil fertility is one of the major limiting factor for maintaining sustainability in crop yields. Totally 90 surface soil samples collected from the selected rice cultivated farmers’ field. Collected soil samples were tested for texture, pH, EC, organic carbon, available N, P, K and S in order to identify the nutrient status in soils and develop the corrective measures. The soil fertility maps generated through Global Positioning System (GPS) and Arc Geographic Information System (GIS) software to formulate balanced fertilizer recommendations and to understand the spatial variability of nutrients in soil. Survey results showed that the sand was ranged from 44 to 80% and that of silt was 3 to 20 % while the range of clay was 13 to 42% and varied three textural classes viz., sandy clay loam, sandy loam and loamy sand. Soil pH was neutral to slightly alkaline (6.8 to 8.2), electrical conductivity rated as non-saline (0.23 to 0.69 dS m-1), organic carbon was low-medium (0.3 to 0.6%), available-N was low (101 to 195 kg ha-1), available-P was high (26.8 to 61.5 kg ha-1), available-K was medium to high (120 to 449 kg ha-1) and available-S was medium to high (10.0 to 26.8 mg kg-1). Among these organic carbon (%) and available-N were important constraints in soil fertility in rice growing areas of Jagtial district of Telangana state.