Influence of nutrient status of soils on mortality of Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) in semi-arid regions of Haryana

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study nutrient status of soils under healthy as well as dead trees of Dalbergia sissoo on six different locations selected in Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar and nearby places with an objective to ascertain whether the mortality is caused by the deficiency of any plant nutrient. Soil samples from six different depth up to 150 cm were collected and analyzed for important nutrient like nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulphur (S). Total macronutrient such as N, P, K and available N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S were found higher in the soils under healthy as compared to dead trees and its concentration decreased with the increase in the soil depth at all the six locations. Nutrients were found higher under healthy trees as compared to dead trees and as the depth increased the nutrient concentration were also decreased. It is concluded that in all sites under study the nutrient concentration could not cause mortality in Shisham trees.