Physico-chemical Properties and Secondary Nutrient Status of Inceptisol, Entisol, and Vertisol Soils in Renapur Tahsil of Latur District, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to study the status of secondary nutrients and their correlation with physico-chemical properties in soils of Renapur tahsil of Latur district. For this purpose, total 100 soil samples were collected from twenty villages and from each village, five soil samples were collected. According to their characteristics they were categorized into different orders viz., Inceptisol, Vertisol, Entisol. The soils of Renapur tahsil were neutral to moderately alkaline in soil reaction, no deleterious effect on crop in electrical conductivity, low to moderate to moderately high in organic carbon and non-calcareous (fit for all crops), calcareous (Fit for all crops except citrus) to highly calcareous (Unfit for all crops) in nature. According to the concept of “soil nutrient index”, the availability of nutrients of these soils were moderate in available S (2.24) and high in exchangeable Ca (3.00) and Mg (3.00). Results revealed that all the soil samples are high in exchangeable Ca, Mg and only 16 per cent samples were found to be deficient in available S. This information could aid in decision making for application of plant nutrients for higher monetary returns to the farmers. The correlation study revealed that pH was negatively correlated with exchangeable Ca, available S and positively correlated with Mg. EC was positively correlated with Mg, S and negatively correlated with Ca while organic carbon and CaCO3 was positively correlated with all nutrients.