Soil fertility appraisal for Villupuram District of Tamil Nadu using GPS and GIS techniques

Abstract

With a view to assess and map the soil fertility status of Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, the present investigation was undertaken using GPS and GIS techniques. In this study, a systematic set of 864 georeferenced soil samples were collected from 144 selected villages, covering all the eight taluks and 22 blocks following multistage stratified random sampling approach. The soil samples were analyzed for 12 chemical parameters and the data along with GPS readings were used for the preparation of soil fertility maps using GIS. The soil fertility maps clearly revealed that a major area of the district was alkaline, non-saline, low in OC, low, high and medium in available N, P and K, respectively; with regard to available S and micronutrients, Zn was predominantly deficient and Cu was moderate while S, Fe, Mn and B were in sufficient status. As a whole, OC, available N, Zn and Cu are the major nutrient constraints in Villupuram district which warrants attention for implementing soil test crop response based nutrient recommendations through integrated plant nutrition system (STCR-IPNS) and application of corresponding micronutrients. Based on the soil fertility appraisal of the district, nutrient plan for various taluks has been furnished for implementation.