The Physio-chemical properties, available sulphur and micro nutrients status in soil of Tiruchirappalli District of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The study was undertaken with a view to assess the sulphur and micronutrient status in the soils of various blocks of Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu. The surface soil samples of Tiruchirappalli district were red loamy, acidic to alkaline (5.22 to 9.21) in reaction with salinity level of harmless (0.02 to 1.74 dS m-1) in condition, low to medium in organic carbon (0.03 to 0.98) per cent and free calcium carbonate content of non-calcareous to moderately calcareous in nature (0.05 to 12.75%). The available sulphur content was low to high status (2.80 to 92.00 mg kg-1), the DTPA extractable micronutrients such as Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe and HWSB content were varied from low to high with range values of 0.03 to 6.38 mg kg-1 for Cu, 0.13 to 4.81 mg kg-1 for Zn, 0.21 to 32.74 mg kg-1 for Mn, 2.16 to 42.05 mg kg-1 for Fe and 0.06 to 3.92 mg kg-1 for HWSB. Regarding available sulphur, it was observed that 11.59 per cent of the surface soils of Tiruchirappalli district are deficient. Zinc deficiency was the predominant in majority of soil samples (63.82%) followed by Cu (40.11%), B (16.18%), Fe (4.99%) and Mn (3.82%).