Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

STATUS OF AVAILABLE SULPHUR IN SURFACE AND SUB-SURFACE SOILS OF RED AND LATERITIC SOILS OF WEST BENGAL

2012; Volume: 2; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

2231-4490

P. C. Patra, Suchh, A. K. Mondal, Goutam Kumar Ghosh,

Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement

Analysis of sixty seven each of surface and sub-surface soil samples from four districts viz. Birbhum, Bankura, Burdwan, and Purulia under red and lateritic soils of West Bengal indicate that the intensity of sulphur deficiency as per Sulphur Availability Index (SAI) ranges from 13 to 73 per cent with an average of 45.2 per cent in surface soils and 40 to 66 per cent with an average of 56.5 per cent in sub-surface soils. The available sulphur content (CaCl 2 extractable sulphur) of different districts of red and lateritic soils under the study ranged from 0.5 to 219.5 mg kg -1 with an average of 29.5 mg kg -1 in surface soil and in sub surface soil it ranged from 0.5 to 68.4 mg kg -1 with an average of 18.7 mg kg -1 . The lowest mean available sulphur content was recorded in the surface soils of Birbhum district, and in the sub-surface soils of Burdwan district, whereas the highest was recorded in the surface and sub-surface soils of Purulia district. Birbhum district recorded to be the most deficient as 87 per cent of the surface soil samples and 67 per cent sub-surface soils of Burdwan district fall under low sulphur range. On the basis of critical level approach, the deficiency of available sulphur in surface soils of different districts could be arranged in the order: Birbhum (87 per cent) > Bankura (38 per cent)> Burdwan (33 per cent)> Purulia (9 per cent) whereas in the sub-surface soils could be in the order: Burdwan (67 per cent) > Bankura (57 per cent) >Birbhum (40 per cent) > Purulia (26 per cent). Correlation studies revealed an intimate association of organic carbon and pH with SO 4 -S and SAI.