Vertical distribution of different forms of potassium and their relationship with different soil properties in Haryana soil

Abstract

Distribution of different forms of potassium in soils in Haryana was studied by exposing profiles. Most of the soils were light in texture and ranged from sand to clay. They were neutral to slight alkaline in nature. The organic carbon in Kaul soil varied from 0.19 to 0.54%. In majority of the soils, the organic carbon content showed a decreasing trend with depth. The distribution of the different forms of the potassium i.e. water soluble, exchangeable, non-exchangeable and total potassium in these soils ranged from 6.26 to 24.93 kg ha-1, 28.09 to 160.25 kg ha-1, 25.05 to 1273.10 kg ha-1 and 2.17 to 1.15%, respectively. The highest amount of the available and total potassium were found in Kaul soil, whereas, Balsamand soil with sandy texture showed the lowest amount. No definite trend of different forms of potassium was observed with respect to depth in these soils. Correlation study showed that the different forms of potassium were positively and significantly correlated with organic carbon, silt and clay content of the soils. They were negatively correlated with sand content. The different forms of potassium were positively and significantly correlated among themselves.