Soil Fertility Status and Nutrient Index in Different Tasar Silkworm Host Plants Growing Ecosystems of Purulia District, West Bengal, India

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate soil fertility status in the fourteen major tasar sericulture adopting villages in Purulia District, West Bengal. For this, a total of 160 surface soil samples (0-30 cm) were collected from dominant tasar sericulture villages along with the details regarding farmer’s name, soil type, host plants details, etc. The collected samples were air dried, sieved and analysed for various soil fertility parameters such as pH, EC, organic carbon, macro and micronutrients. The data on various parameters were categorized into low, medium and high classes based on soil fertility ratings and nutrient index was calculated. Results revealed that soil reaction in the study area varied from strongly acidic to moderately acidic with saline free soil. The available nitrogen was low level in all the tasar host plant growing regions. In all the study regions, medium range of available phosphorus, potassium and sulphur was observed. All the micronutrients were high in the study villages. Regard NIV, all the macronutrients except nitrogen showed medium nutrient index in most places. Fertility rate of available micro nutrients were high index in all the tasar growing villages.