Assessment of Vertical Nutrient Stratification in Paddy Cultivating Soils in Vepurikota Microwatershed of Andhra Pradesh, India
G. Sivanagaraju *
Department of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Vignan Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Vadlamudi-522213, India.
M.V.S. Naidu
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, S.V. Agricultural College, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Tirupati– 517 502, India.
B.P. Bhaskar
ICAR- NBSS&LUP, Regional Centre, Hebbal, Bangalore – 560024, India.
K.V. Naga Madhuri
Institute of Frontier Technology, RARS, Tirupati- 517502, India.
V. Ramamurthy
ICAR- NBSS&LUP, Regional Centre, Hebbal, Bangalore – 560024, India.
SK. Nafeez Umar
Department of Statistics and Computer Applications, S.V. Agricultural College, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Tirupati– 517 502, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A thorough soil investigation was conducted to assess the soil's ability to supply nutrients by examining the vertical nutrient distribution pattern in the pedons of paddy growing areas in the Vepurikota microwatershed in Andhra Pradesh. The results revealed that soils were low in available nitrogen and medium to high in available P2O5, low to high in available K2O and deficient to sufficient in available S. In both the surface and subsurface horizons of every pedon, the DTPA extractable Cu was revealed sufficient in the soils. All pedons in the surface and subsurface horizons had deficient to sufficient amounts of available Zn, while all pedons except pedon 4 had sufficient quantities of available Fe and Mn that were above critical levels.
Keywords: Macro, micronutrients, organic carbon, pH, surface horizon, sub-surface horizon