Assessment and mapping of soil nutrient status of Sakoli tehsil of Bhandara district of Maharashtra using GIS techniques

Abstract

Composite soil samples were collected from 92 villages of Sakoli Tehsil of Bhandara district in Maharashtra state of India, located in north deccan Maharashtra lower plateau in ‘Wainganga’ sub-basin of ‘Godawari’ basin, during the pre-monsoon season of 2015-2018 and were analyzed for physico-chemical properties, available macronutrient and micro-nutrient status using standard methodology. The results showed that, pH, EC, OC, N, K, P, S, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B were ranging from 6.13 to 7.31, 0.16-1.27 dSm-1, 0.27-0.87 %, 115.22-596.37 kg ha-1, 8.95-109.27 kg ha-1, 170.20-847.28 kg ha-1, 0.09-42.11 kg ha-1, 0.12-4.26 mg kg-1, 0.24-14.90 mg kg-1, 0.74-3.86 mg kg-1, 1.37-23.34 mg kg-1 and 0.11-2.36 mg kg-1 respectively. Overall 44.7% of total soil samples were in low category, 27.9 % samples were moderate or medium range and only 27.4 % soil samples were in high category of soil fertility. The nutrient index of N, P, K and S was 1.54, 2.37, 2.91 and 1.63 respectively. However, nutrient index of analyzed micronutrients viz., Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B was 1.14, 1.49, 2.97, 2.80 and 1.00 respectively.