SOIL MACRO-NUTRIENTS APPRAISAL AND INDEXING FOR SALINITY / SODICITY AND FERTILITY STATUS OF SOILS IN TEHSIL ATHARA-HAZARI OF DISTRICT JHANG, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN: A PRECISION AGRICULTURAL APPROACH

Abstract

The soil sustains plant life and supplies nourishment for growth, and its productivity and salt stress are important factors in agricultural yield. In this regard, from 2016-17 to 2020-21, this study was done to determine the soils of Tehsil Athara-Hazari Jhang for their salinity-sodicity condition, at the union council (UC) level. A total of 1654 soil samples were obtained from Tehsil Athara-Hazari's ten union councils. The obtained samples were evaluated for various physic-chemical characteristics following standard methods. According to the findings, 45.7 % (756 samples) of Tehsil Athara-Hazari's soils were non-salty, 50.3 % (831 samples) were saline-sodic to sodic, and only 4.0 % (67 samples) were saline. The most troublesome soils were identified in UC Dosa, whereas the least damaging soils were discovered in UC Munde Syed. In terms of the fertility state of Tehsil Athara-Hazari soils, 64.0 % (1059 samples) had low organic matter (OM) content, 32.5 % (538 samples) had medium OM content, and only 3.5 % (57 samples) had appropriate OM level. The majority of soils (68.7%) were found to be inadequate in available phosphorus (P), with only 31.3 % in the medium range. The extractable potassium (K) 76.1% (1259 samples) was found in medium range, 13.7% (227 samples) in adequate range and only 10.2% (168 samples) were in deficient range. Soil textural analysis indicate that most of Athara-Hazari soils 76.4% (1263 samples) soils were loam, followed by 12.8 % (212 samples) clay type and the least 10.8 % (179 samples) were labeled as sandy loam. When examined at the union council UC level, UC Mari Shah Sagira had the highest OM deficient soils (75.0 %), whereas UC Kot Shakir had OM appropriate soils (9.0 %). Similarly, the highest percentages of UC Rasheed pur soils about 74.5% were deficient in accessible phosphorus P, while the lowest percentage was in UC Dosa. The maximum soils (85.5%) of Kot Murad were in fall in medium ranged extractable K while minimum 44.4 % in UC Munde Syed, large proportion of Munde Syed has adequate K. The majority of the soils in UC Kot Murad were loam, whereas the percentage of loamy sand at UC Munde Syed was the lowest. The most light-textured soils were found in UC Uch Gul Imam, whereas clayey soils were found in UC Munde Syed. Appropriate measures should be adopted on war-foot basis to overcome the low fertility and hazardous effects of salinity/sodicity concerns, as to increase the crop productivity in current food security threats.