Evaluation of soil fertility status of Manpur village of Bemetara district, Chhattisgarh

Abstract

A study was carried out in the village of Manpur, located in the Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh, using GPS-based surface soil sampling (0-15 cm depth) to determine fertilizer recommendations for major crops. The soil pH in the study area ranged from 6.32 to 8.04, with an average of 7.27. Electrical conductivity (EC) varied between 0.11 and 0.28 dSm-1, averaging 0.20 dSm-1, while organic carbon (OC) content ranged from 0.37% to 0.75%, with a mean of 0.11%. Available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur in the soil was found to range from 100.35 to 238.34, 9.94 to 19.80, 324.91 to 625.42 and 13.16 and 43.12 kgha-1, with an average value of 167.14, 14.99, 444.31 and 26.22 kgha-1, respectively. Regarding the available micronutrients, DTPA-extractable iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), cupper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and boron (B) ranged from 3.12 to 9.84, 3.18 to 7.72, 0.22 to 1.92, 0.14 to 1.72 and 0.11 to 0.56 mgkg-1, with a mean value of 4.61, 4.94, 1.09, 0.76 and 0.26 mgkg-1, respectively. In the study area, soil fertility status was assessed using the Nutrient Index Value (NIV) and based on the NIV, the overall fertility ratings were categorized as low for available nitrogen (1.00), medium for available phosphorus (1.74), and high for available potassium (2.82) and low for available sulphur (1.54).