Physical and chemical properties of soils in Banaskantha district under groundnut cultivation

Abstract

The current investigation was aimed to study the physical and chemical properties of soils of Banaskantha district under groundnut cultivation, Gujarat, India. One hundred forty surface soil samples (0-15 cm) from various groundnut growing fields (Ten samples from each taluka) of Banaskantha were collected during May, 2018 by using multistage stratified random sampling. The collected soil samples were analyzed for various physical and chemical properties viz., soil texture, electrical conductivity, soil reaction, organic carbon, available P2O5 and K2O by adopting standard analytical procedure. The majority of soils of this tract were found loamy sand and their texture varied from sandy to sandy loam. The soils of Banaskantha district were neutral to mildly alkaline in reaction and no salinity hazards (more than 98 per cent samples were categorized under normal range of soil salinity having EC 83 per cent soil samples were categorized under low organic carbon content). On the basis of nutrient index, the soils of this region were found low in organic carbon (1.171), marginal in available phosphorus (1.821) and adequate in available potassium (2.221).