Fertility Status of Rice Growing Soils of Gadchiroli Tehsil of Maharashtra, India in Relation to Available Macronutrients and Soil Chemical Properties

The present study was undertaken to assess the status of available macronutrients, viz., nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S) in relation to soil chemical properties for delineating the fertility status of rice growing soils of Gadchiroli tehsil, Maharashtra. For this, fifteen villages were selected and soil samples were collected from the rice growing fields (0-20 cm depth) after the harvest of crop during the year 2020-21. The soils were found to be slightly acidic to neutral in reaction (pH 5.64 to 6.97), non-saline (EC 0.02 to 0.18 dS m-1) and non-calcareous (CaCO3 0.05 to 1.15 %), with low contents of soil organic carbon (2.1 to 5.4 g kg-1). The available N and S were also low, with ranges varying from 87.81 to 269.70 kg ha-1 for available N and 5.48 to 15.34 mg kg-1 for available S. The available P2O5 content was moderate in the soils, ranging from 23.17 to 41.98 kg ha-1. The available K2O content, however, was found to be very diversified ranging from 123.54 to 465.71 kg ha-1. Correlation studies revealed a highly significant positive correlation between the macronutrients and the soil OC and EC. While, pH and free calcium carbonate showed a negative correlation with the macronutrients, except for potassium, which showed a positive and significant correlation with pH of the soil.