Distribution of forms of potassium in soils of central and eastern Vidarbha region of Maharashtra

Transcription

1 An Asian Journal of Soil Science Volume 10 Issue 1 June, e ISSN Visit us : Research Article DOI : /HAS/AJSS/10.1/34-41 Distribution of forms of potassium in soils of central and eastern Vidarbha region of Maharashtra MEMBERS OF RESEARCH FORUM: Corresponding author : P.K. RATHOD, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, College of Agricuture, DHULE (M.S.) INDIA Co-authors : SHILPA BABAR, V.G. SAL VI AND V.P. BADOLE, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, College of Agricuture, DHULE (M.S.) INDIA Received : ; Revised : ; Accepted : Summary Soil samples from fourteen profiles from five districts of Central and Western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra were studied for the distribution of different forms of potassium and for their relationship with some soil properties. The soils of Wardha, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Bhandara districts were slightly calcarious neutral to alkaline in reaction and the soils of Gondia district was non-calcarious and sightly acidic in reaction. The Central Vidarbha soils were clay in texture having high in organic carbon content. Whereas the soils of Eastern Vidarbha were clay loam, sandy clay loam and low in organic carbon content. No definite trend was observed in the forms of potassium except exchangeable and available K, they were decreased with increase in depth. The available K and exchangeable K increased with the increase in organic carbon (r = **, r = **). The availability of exchangeable K increased with increase in clay content (r = **). The non-exchangeable K was also increased with clay content (r = **) and EC (r = **) in Eastern Vidarbha region. The availability of total K and lattice K increased with increase in organic carbon (r = **, r = *) and clay content (r= *, r = *) in Eastern Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Key words : Distribution pattern, Forms of soil K, Soil depth, Relationship with soil properties! How to cite this article : Babar, Shilpa, Rathod, P.K., Salvi, V.G. and Badole, V.P. (2015). Distribution of forms of potassium in soils of central and eastern Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Asian J. Soil Sci., 10(1) : Introduction A knowledge of different forms of potassium in soils together with their distribution in the zone of root penetration is of much relevance in assessing the longterm availability of the nutrients to crops and in formulating sound fertilizer recommendations. The pattern of the potassium distribution in soil profile is dependent upon the homogeneity of parent material with regard to type and abundance of potassium, bearing minerals and the relations like fixation and release (Chopra and Kanwar, 1976 and Hesse, 1971). The various forms of potassium in soils exist in equilibrium with forms of one another and depletion of one form is replenished by other forms (Chandel et al., 1976). The present study was, therefore, undertaken to findout the distribution of different forms of potassium and their relations with important soil parameters. Resource and Research Methods The fourteen soil profiles were collected from HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

2 central and eastern vidarbha region. Eight profile samples were collected from Nagpur, two from Wardha, two from Chandrapur, one each from Bhandara and Gondia district as per the procedure laid down by Piper (1996). The soil samples were analysed for their particle size distribution by international pipette method, calcium carbonate and exchangeable K by standard method of Piper (1996). ph, EC (1:2.5) and organic carbon by the procedure of Jackson (1967). Non-exchangeable K by Wood and De Turk (1940), water soluble K determined by Dhawan et al. (1968) and lattice K by Ranganathan and Satyanarayana (1980). Stastical analysis involved simple correlations between forms of potassium and soil properties as per the procedure of Panse and Sukhatme (1978). Research Findings and Discussion The results obtained from the present investigation as well as relevant discussion have been summarized under following heads : Physico-chemical properties of soil: The soil characteristics estimated in the present study are given in Table 1. The data showed that all the soils of Nagpur and Chandrapur districts are classified under clay textural class. While the soils of Bhandara, Gondia and Wardha districts are classified under clay loam, sandy loam, clay and sandy clay loam textural class, respectively as per the USDA system. In the soils of Bhandara and Gondia districts the percentage of clay increased with depth. This is might be due to loss of colloidal clay fraction from surface horizon due to heavy rainfall in this region. However, in Wardha districts soil the percentage of clay decreased with increase in depth of the soil. The per cent contribution of the soil separates ranged from to per cent, silt ranged from to per cent and clay ranged from to per cent. The highest per cent of sand, silt and clay were recorded in Selsura, Ekarjuna and College of Agriculture farm, Nagpur, respectively. While the lowest percentage of sand, silt and clay were recorded in Ekarjuna, Sakoli and Selsura soil, respectively. There was no specific variation on the percentage of sand, silt and clay due to increase in depth of the soil profile. The soils of Wardha, Nagpur, Chndrapur and Bhandara districts were neutral to alkaline in reactions ph 7.10 to 8.15 and EC 0.13 to 0.15 dsm -1 while soils of Gondia districts were slightly acidic being it follows in heavy rainfall area 6.43 to 6.68 ph and EC 0.26 to 0.43 dsm -1. The result on ph and EC of the soil did not show any specific trend with increase in depth of soil. On the basis of the range of ph and EC, it indicates that, the soils were in good condition for crop growth. The results of free lime content on soil showed that, the soil profiles of Nagpur, Wardha and Bhandara districts fell under the slightly calcareous range soils of Tharsa. The free lime content of surface soil ranged from 0.25 to 9.21 per cent. The calcium carbonate content increased with increase in depth. A similar finding was reported by Virmani et al. (1982). The most important property of soil for controlling the physico-chemical properties and nutrient availability is the organic carbon content of the soil. The organic carbon varied from profile to profile and depth to depth of sample. In general it ranged from 0.23 to 0.91 per cent and in surface soil it ranged from 0.42 to 0.91 per cent. It indicated low to high content of organic carbon. The availability of organic carbon content decreased with increase in depth of soil sampling in all the profiles. Similar results were reported by Mandal et al. (1982) and Subbiah and Asija (1956). Forms of soil potassium : The total K content in profiles of Central Vidarbha soils ranged from to 9000 mg kg -1 (Table 2). The maximum content of total K was in surface and subsurface soil in Katol soil and minimum in Phutala soil of Nagpur district. In Eastern Vidarbha total potassium in profile ranged from 4500 to 8250 mg kg -1 and in surface soil it ranged from 7250 to 8250 mg kg -1. This value of total potassium was slightly higher than the range 1900 to 5500 mg kg -1 reported by Deshmukh et al. (1991) of Vidarbha soil. Definite trend of distribution of total K was not observed in profiles possibly because of active peudoterbation process operating in pedons (Raskar and Pharande,1997). The mineral potassium is bound within the crystal structure of soil mineral particles but it holds between adjacent tetradedral layer of micas, Vermiculites and integrate clay minerals (Sparks, 1987). The contents of lattice K in soil profile ranged from to mg kg -1 and in surface soil it ranged from to mg kg -1. The maximum content of lattice K was observed in Katol soil and minimum in Botanical garden, Phutala soil. This is might be due to conversion of lattice K into exchangeable K because of its leaching in slopy soil. The contribution of lattice K towards total potassium was per cent in general 35 HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE Asian J. Soil Sci., (June, 2015) 10 (1) : 34-41

3 DISTRIBUTION OF FORMS OF POTASSIUM IN SOILS OF CENTRAL & EASTERN VIDARBHA REGION Table 1 : Physico-chemical properties of the soils Depth (cm) Sand (%) Silt (%) Clay (%) Regional Fruit Research Station Farm, Katol Dist. Nagpur HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE 36 Asian J. Soil Sci., (June, 2015) 10 (1) : Textural class ph EC (dsm -1 ) 1:25 Soil water suspension CaCO 3 (%) Organic carbon (%) Clay Clay Clay and above Clay Department of Botany Farm, Nagpur Clay Clay Clay Botanical garden Farm, Phutala (Deep black soil),dist Nagpur Clay Clay Clay College of Agriculture Farm, Nagpur Clay Clay Clay C.I.C.R.Panjri Farm (Deep black soil), Dist. Nagpur Clay Clay Clay C.I.C.R. Panjri Farm (Medium black soil), Dist. Nagpur Clay Clay Clay C.I.C.R. Panjri Farm (Shallow black soil), Dist. Nagpur Clay Clay Agricultural Research Station Farm, Tharsa, Dist. Nagpur Clay Clay Clay and above Clay Agricultural Research Station Farm, Kutki, Dist. Wardha Clay Sandy Clay Agricultural Research Station Farm, Selsura, Dist. Wardha Sandy Clay Sandy Clay Sandy Clay Table 1 : Contd

4 Table 1 : Contd... Agricultural Research Station Farm, Ekarjuna, Dist. Chandrapur Clay Clay Clay and above Clay Agricultural Research Station Farm, Sindewahi, Dist. Chandrapur Clay Clay Clay Agricultural Research Station Farm, Sakoli, Dist. Bhandara Clay loam Clay Clay and above Clay Agricultural Research Station Farm, Hiwara, Dist. Gondia Sandy Clay Sandy Clay Sandy Clay and above Clay and about per cent, per cent in Central and Eastern Vidarbha region, respectively. Similar results were recorded by Pharande and Sonar (1996). In Central Vidarbha lattice K ranged from to mg kg -1 in soil profiles and in surface layer it ranged from to mg kg -1. Similarly in Eastern Vidarbha it ranged from to mgkg -1. It was noticed that the ranged of lattice K in Eastern Vidarbha region was narrow than Central Vidarbha. The lowest and highest value of non-exchangeable K were in Phutala and Sindewahi soils, respectively. It was recorded from to mg kg -1 in soils with a mean value of mgkg -1. In Central Vidarbha the non-exchangeable K range was from to mg kg -1 in surface. While the range of non-exchangeable K in Eastern Vidarbha region was quit higher in surface sample (661.5 to mg kg -1 ) and to mg kg -1 in profile sample. This could be related to abundance of K fixing minerals in heavy rainfall area of Eastern Vidarbha. This form of K also did not exhibit any characteristics trend with depth. The variation in depth wise distribution pattern of non-exchangeable K might be due to changes in particle size distribution in various layers (Brar and Sekhon,1987). This highest content of non-exchangeable K in surface horizon was related to clay content, which could fix the K in soils, due to the presence of illitic and other 2:1 type clay minerals. The exchangeable K in general ranged from 84.6 to mg kg -1 in surface and 38.5 to mg kg -1 in profile with the mean of mg kg -1 and which was 1.88 per cent of total K. In Central Vidarbha it ranged from 84.6 to mg kg -1 in profile with a mean of mg kg -1 which was 2.22 per cent of total K. However, as compared to Central Vidarbha and general range, Eastern Vidarbha soil recorded lower content of exchangeable K (1.25 %) towards total K. whereas, it ranged in surface sample (96.7 to mg kg -1 ) and profile sample (4.09 to mg kg -1 ) was very narrow. Similar results were recorded by Pal and Sekhon (1991). This clearly indicates that exchangeable K in soils was related to organic carbon content. The average water soluble K in soil of Central Vidarbha was 3.7 to mg kg -1 in surface layer and 3.7 to mg -1 in profile with average mean of which was 0.11 per cent of total K while in Eastern Vidarbha region it ranged from 5.5 to mg kg -1 in surface layer and profile smples with a mean of mg kg -1 which was 0.14 per cent of total K, which showed its negligible contribution in forms of K. The maximum mean of water soluble K was reecorded in Ekarjuna (12.73 mg kg -1 ) and minimum in Tharsa and Panjri, medium black soil (3.7 mg kg -1 ). In clay soils water soluble K decreased with depth, while in sandy clay and clay loam it was increased with depth. This was possible 37 HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE Asian J. Soil Sci., (June, 2015) 10 (1) : 34-41

5 DISTRIBUTION OF FORMS OF POTASSIUM IN SOILS OF CENTRAL & EASTERN VIDARBHA REGION Table 2 : Distribution of forms of potassium (mg kg -1 ) in the soil profile Depth (cm) Available K Water soluble K Exchangeable K Non-exchangeable K Total K Lattice K Regional Fruit Research Station Farm, Katol Dist. Nagpur and above Mean Department of Botany Farm, Nagpur Mean Botanical garden Farm, Phutala (Deep black soil), Dist Nagpur Mean College of Agriculture Farm, Nagpur Mean C.I.C.R. Panjri Farm (Deep black soil), Dist. Nagpur Mean C.I.C.R. Panjri Farm (Medium black soil), Dist. Nagpur Mean C.I.C.R. Panjri Farm (Shallow black soil), Dist. Nagpur Mean Agricultural Research Station Farm, Tharsa, Dist. Nagpur and above Mean Agricultural Research Station Farm, Kutki, Dist. Wardha Mean Table 2 : Contd... HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE 38 Asian J. Soil Sci., (June, 2015) 10 (1) : 34-41

6 Table 2 : Contd... Agricultural Research Station Farm, Selsura, Dist. Wardha Mean Agricultural Research Station Farm, Ekarjuna, Dist. Chandrapur and above Mean Agricultural Research Station Farm, Sindewahi, Dist. Chandrapur Mean Agricultural Research Station Farm, Sakoli, Dist. Bhandara and above Mean Agricultural Research Station Farm, Hiwara, Dist. Gondia and above Mean Total Mean due to leaching of K from surface layer to the lower layers. Similar results werer reported by Mishra et al. (1993). The mean content of available K in Central Vidarbha region was highest ( mg kg -1 ) than Eastern Vidarbha (95.01 mg kg -1 ) which was 2.33 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively of total K. But the range of availability of total K was narrow in Eastern Vidarbha than Central Vidarbha considering mg kg -1 available soil K as the general critical limit for crops (Murthy and Hirekerur,1980). Correlation between forms of potassium and soil properties : In Vidarbha region, the availability of K was significantly and positively correlated with organic carbon (r= ** ) (Table 3). Similarly it showed significant and positive correlation with organic carbon (r= ** ) in Central Vidarbha (Table 4). It indicated the availability of potassium increases with increased in organic carbon content. Whereas the availability of K showed significant and negative correlation with silt (r= ** ) and ph (r= * ) in Central Vidarbha. Similar findings of Deshmukh et al. (1991). The water soluble K showed positive and significant correlation with sand (r= * ) and negative with clay (r= * ), ph (r= ** ) and CaCO 3 (r= * ) in Vidarbha region. It indicated the availability of water soluble K was less probably in Vertisols. This indicated that the amount of potassium present in soil solution was independent of soil factors (Kalbande and Swaminatha, 1976). Exchangeable K showed positive and significant correlation with per cent clay (r= * ) and organic carbon (r= * ) in Vidarbha soil. Simiar correlation of exchangeable K with organic carbon (r= ** ) was in Central Vidarbha. Further it showed negative correlation with silt (r= ** ) and ph(r= - 39 HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE Asian J. Soil Sci., (June, 2015) 10 (1) : 34-41

7 DISTRIBUTION OF FORMS OF POTASSIUM IN SOILS OF CENTRAL & EASTERN VIDARBHA REGION ** )(Table 4). Since Vertisols were dominated by smectite clay minerals formed under base rich environment, the significant inverse relation between silt and ph with exchangeable K was noticed. Similar results were recorded by Pharande and Sonar, (1996). The nonexchangeable K showed significant and negative correlation with soil ph (r= ** ) and EC (r= ** ). Similarly in Eastern Vidarbha, nonexchangeable K showed inverse significant correlation with ph (r= ** ), CaCO 3 (r= ** ) and sand (r= ** ) (Table 5). Since the soil under investigation were smectite slightly alkaline, the inverse relation between soil ph and non-exchangeable K could be explain on the basis of greater performance of these soils for sodium over potassium and the maintenance of wider interlayer space of clay minerals under the dominance of sodium ions. Similar results were reported by Dhillon et al. (1985). The significant and positive correlation of total K and lattice K were recorded with clay (r= * and r= * ) and organic carbon (r= * and r= * ) and negatively correlated with sand (r= * and r= * ) in Eastern Vidarbha only. The similar results were reported by Raskar and Pharande (1997). It might be due to the less content of clay bearing minerals in silt and sand fractions. Lattice K and total K did not show any significant correlation with any of the soil properties in Central and Eastern Vidarbha (Mishra et al., 1993). Thus, the soils from different agroclimatic region of Vidarbha had fairly high content of all the forms of K that occurs in soil. The effect of parent material and rainfall reflected on the forms of K in soils and the per cent contribution of each from inrelation to total K. The r values suggests that the actual amount of K present in he soil was not he sole factor such as potassium Table 3 : Correlation co-efficient between forms of potassium and physico-chemical properties of soil in Vidarbha region Parameters Avail. K Water soluble K Exch. K Non-exch. K Total K Lattice K Sand % * Silt % Clay % * * ph ** ** EC ** CaCO ** O.C ** ** * and ** indicate significance of values at P=0.05 and P=0.01, respectively Table 4 : Correlation co-efficient between forms of potassium and physico-chemical properties of soil in Central Vidarbha Parameters Avail. K Water soluble K Exch. K Non-exch. K Total K Lattice K Sand % Silt % ** ** Clay % ph ** ** EC CaCO O.C ** ** ** indicate significance of value at P=0.05 Table 5 : Correlation co-efficient between forms of potassium and physico-chemical properties of soil in Eastern Vidarbha Parameters Avail. K Water soluble K Exch. K Non-exch. K Total K Lattice K Sand % ** * * Silt % Clay % ** * * ph ** EC ** CaCO ** ** O.C * * * and ** indicate significance of value at P=0.05 and P=0.01, respectively HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE 40 Asian J. Soil Sci., (June, 2015) 10 (1) : 34-41

8 dyanamic in soil, clay content, soil ph, CaCO 3 and organic carbon influenced the availability of potassium. Literature Cited Brar, M.S. and Sekhom, G.S.(1987). Vertical distribution of potassium in five benchmark soil series of Northern India. J. Indian Soci. Soil Sci., 35 : Chandel, A.S., Singh, M. and Singh, T.A.(1976). Bulletin. Indian Soci. Soil Sci., 13 : 20. Chopra, S.R. and Kanwar, J. S.(1976). Analytical agricultural chemistry, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, 282pp. Deshmukh, V.N., Solanke, B.U., Rewatkar, S.S. and Gawande, S.M.(1991). Forms of potassium in soils of Vidarbha region. J. Soils & Crops, 1(2) : Dhawan, S., Pareek, B.L. and Mathur, C.M.(1968). Studies of forms of potassium in soils of Rajasthan. J. Indian Soci. Soil Sci., 16 : Dhillon, S.K., Sidhu, P.S., Dhillon, K.S. and Sharma, Y.P. (1985). Distribution pf various potassium forms in some benchmark soils of North-West India. J. Potassium Res., 1 (3): Hesse, P.R.(1971). A text book of soil chemical analysis. John Murry Pub. Pvt. Ltd., London, 377pp. Jackson, M.L.(1967). Soil chemical analysis, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., NEW DELHI (INDIA). Kalbande, A.R. and Swaminatha, R. (1976). Characterization of potassium in balck soils developed on different perent materials in Tungabhadra Catchment. J. Indian Soci. Soil Sci., 24 (3) : Mandal, S.C., Sinha, M.K. and Sinha, H. (1982). Acid soils of India and Liming. Technical Bull., 51 : ICAR, NEW DELHI (INDIA). Mishra, M.K.,Srivastava, P.C. and Ghosh, D. (1993). Forms of potassium in relation to soil properties and clay mineralogy in some profile of Chambal Command area of Rajasthan. J. 10 Potassium Res., 9(2) : t h Year of Excellence Murthy, R.S. and Hirekerur, L.R. (1980). Soils in handbook of agriculture. ICAR, New Delhi, 20-72pp. Pal, D.K. and Sekhon, G.S.(1981). Potassium status of five alluvial soil series from different geographical region of India. J. Potassium Res., 7 : 1-8. Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V.(1978). Statistical methods for agricultural workers, ICAR, NEW DELHI (INDIA). Patil, Y.M. and Sonar, K.R. (1993). Dynamics of potassium in swell-shrink soils of Maharashtra. J. Potassium Res., 9(4) : Pharande, A.L. and Sonar, K.R. (1996). Depth wise distribution of different forms of potassium in important vertisol soil series of Maharashtra. J. Potassium Res., 12(2) : Piper, C.S.(1966). Soil and plant analysis. Hans Publishers, Bombay, pp. Ranganathan, A. and Satyanarayan, T. (1980). Studies on potassium status of soils of Karnataka, J. Indian Soci. Soil Sci., 28(2) : Raskar, B.N. and Pharande, A.L.(1997). Different forms of potassium and their distribution in some important soil series of Vertisols and Alfisols of Western Maharashtra. J. Potassium Res., 13(1) : Sparks (1987). Potassium dyanamics in soils. Adv. Soil Sci., 6 :1-23. Subbiah, B.V. and Asija, G.L.(1956). A rapid procedure for the estimation of available nitrogen in soils. Curr. Sci., 25 : Virmani, S.M., Sahrawat, K.L. and Burford, J.R. (1982). Physical and chemical properties of Vertisols and their management 12 th International congress of Soil Science, New Topics Symposia Paper, 11 : Wood, L.K. and De Turk, E.E. (1940). The sbsorption of potassium in soils in non-replaceable forms. Soil Sci. Soci. America Proc., 5 : HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE Asian J. Soil Sci., (June, 2015) 10 (1) : 34-41