Physico-Chemical Properties of Surface Soil in Ashoknagar District of Madhya Pradesh for Agricultural Production

Abstract

Looking at the crop production and soil related constraints in different village of Ashoknagar District of Madhya Pradesh we found it important to characterize the soils of the village. For this purpose, one hundred twenty-five GPS-based surface soil samples (0-15 cm) were collected from five blocks (Mungaoli, Chanderi, Ishagarh, Ashoknagar and Sadora) of Ashoknagar district from April to May 2017-2018. Soils were studied for their physical and chemical characteristics - status of sand,silt,clay percent varied from 36.6-56.7%, 3.9-38% and 25.2-42.4%, with the mean value of 47.5%, 17.2% or 35.1%, respectively and soil pH, EC, OC, Calcium carbonate, total Nitrogen or available sulphur were observed in the range of 7.2– 8.6, 0.32 - 0.62dSm‑1, 2.14 - 7.06 gkg-1, 0.5 –3.5 %  0.01-0.24 % and 4.36 – 40.25 mg kg-1under different villages of the investigated area with the average value of 8.0, 0.45dSm‑1, 4.35gkg-1, 1.7% and 0.11 %,14.68 mg kg-1 respectively. The availability of sulphur increased with an increase in organic carbon and clay content in the soil.