DTPA-extractable micronutrients in Inceptisols of Chunar, Mirzapur and its correlation with physicochemical properties of soil

Abstract

Micronutrients are considered as inevitable elements in the production of quality food produce because of their involvement in various enzymatic as well as metabolic processes. The deficiency of micronutrients in plants is reflected as significant reduction in yield and quality. During last few years imbalanced nutrient fertilization and decrease in nutrient use efficiency leads to soil mining and its sickness which ultimately result to decline in crop yield and production potential in Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) an intensively cultivated area of India. Ignorance of micronutrients in long run may cause malnutrition too later on. Considering this fact micronutrients viz. Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn and B were analyzed using standard methods along with the factors affecting its availability (pH, soil organic matter and soil texture and availability of major nutrients). The range (mean) values of DTPA-extractable Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn were 16.20 to 43.60 (24.16), 1.02 to 6.46 (2.95), 0.44 to 3.17 (1.56), and 0.50 to 1.80 (0.75) in Gangpur; 13.20 to 35.60 (22.79), 0.70-7.00 (3.45), 0.38 to 1.72 (1.23) and 0.52 to 1.14 (0.73) mg kg-1 soil in Bhawanipur village. Results revealed the sufficiency of all the micronutrients in the selected region but giving an indication to maintain such levels in future also.