Comparing the extractability of different extractants for zinc in West Bengal

Abstract

A greenhouse experiment for evaluating the extractability of four different extractants for soil available zinc (Zn) was conducted at the Central Research Farm of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV) at Gayeshpur, Nadia during 2014 with soils from five blocks of Nadia district, West Bengal. Soils were analysed for zinc (Zn) using the extractants namely DTPA, AB-DTPA, 0.05 M HCl and Mehlich 3 (rice variety, Satabdi- 4786 was used as the test crop) with two levels of Zn (0 and 5 kg ha-1). Important physico-chemical properties of soil like pH, organic carbon, textural class, CaCO3 content, clay content, CEC, etc. were analyzed. Amount of Zn as extracted by Mehlich 3 and 0.05 M HCl were significantly and positively correlated (r = 0.992**). Mehlich 3 accounted for the highest extractability of soil zinc followed by 0.05 M HCl.