An Appraisal of Available Nutrients Status and Soil Fertility Mapping for Salem District of Tamil Nadu

摘要

A systematic set of georeferenced soil samples were collected from Salem district, Tamil Nadu using GPS (Global Positioning System) and analysed for pH, EC, available macro and micronutrients. The fertility data of 348 soil samples revealed that a major percentage of the samples is alkaline (84.1%), non-saline (96%), low in OC (40.8%) and available N (92.5%) and medium in available P (47.8%) and K (68.9%). The soils are predominantly deficient in Zn and sufficient in S, Fe, Cu, Mn and B. The maps showing the spatial variability in macro and micronutrients were generated using Arc-GIS software version 9.3. The soil fertility maps clearly revealed that, the major area of the district is alkaline, non-saline, medium in OC, low, high and medium in available N, P and K, respectively. With respect to available S and micronutrients, Zn is predominantly deficient, while all others are in sufficient status.